Like most web site owners, we are very interested in
knowing how many people visit our site, so we receive and keep general
statistics about the traffic to us. We are mainly interested in how
many people visited, and where they arrived from. This helps us
to measure the effectiveness of our promotional efforts, including search
engine listings.
The server we are on generates standard access
log files, which we save for the purpose of understanding general
trends in traffic. The logs contain IP address information,
but we have no way of personally identifying any visitors.
We cannot decipher your name or email address. In the event
of a malicious hacking attempt, we would send copies of the
logs to the originating ISP (which we can identify.)
Cookies are short strings of letters and numbers which
are sent to a web-surfer's computer, often for keeping track of small
pieces of information as s/he clicks from one page to another. A common
use is to hold session data, such as might be necessary when making
a purchase online which involves multiple HTML pages, forms, or templates.
The Ministry Of Privacy site itself uses javascript
and cookies as part of the mechanism that changes the banner ads each
time a page is loaded, to keep track of which banners have already been
displayed to each visitor. Also, many of the banner advertisements are
served by third-party ad networks, which do transmit cookies. The primary
function of these cookies is for accounting purposes, to match up click-throughs
and sales at a sponsor's site with a banner on a referring site (ours.)
Another purpose is to keep track of which banners have been shown during
a visit, to avoid showing the same one repeatedly. Those banners pay
the expenses here, and keep this site online.
If you seriously object to receiving the javascript
or cookies, study your browser's "Help" files to learn how
to turn them off. (You will still be able to view our site.)
We will never sell, rent, trade, or otherwise
distribute email addresses of people who contact us, and we will never
send unsolicited bulk email (commonly known as "spam.")
We will never link to or recommend a company or service
which, at our sole discretion, appears to be fraudulent. However, like
other media outlets (ranging from television stations to phone books),
we cannot accept responsibility for the actions of our advertisers and
other companies listed on our site. It is the consumer's responsibility
to personally determine the suitability of a particular company that
s/he may wish to do business with.
If you have any further concerns or comments on these
issues, contact us at Webmaster@ministryofprivacy.com
