WHAT ARE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

Cookies. Cookies are small data files placed on your computer or other internet-enabled devices that enable our features and functionality. They allow us to record information when you visit or interact with our Websites. You can find more information about cookies at All About Cookies www.allaboutcookies.org.

Pixels. Pixels are small portions of code that we use as part of our Websites. We use pixels to learn whether you have clicked on certain web content. This helps us measure and improve our services and personalize your experience.

Web beacons. Web beacons are invisible picture files that we use as part of our Websites. We use web beacons to see how you interact with our services and to understand how often you view certain content so that we can make our Website more efficient and easier to use.

HOW DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

We use cookies, web beacons, pixels, tags, scripts and other similar tracking technologies to make our Websites easier to use and to better tailor them to your interests and needs. We use the information we obtain from cookies and other tracking technologies to carry out profiling activities in order to learn more about you and offer you tailored advertising based on your behavior on our Websites. Some technologies may also be placed by third party advertisers. We also use these technologies to compile information that allows us to better understand our customers and visitors.

WHAT KINDS OF COOKIES AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES DO WE USE?

PERSISTENT AND SESSION COOKIES

Cookies can remain on your device for different periods of time. We use two types of cookies:

• Persistent cookies are cookies that help us recognize you. They are stored on your device in between browser sessions, allowing us to remember your preferences and actions across multiple sites and on multiple visits. 
• Session cookies expire at the end of your browser session, allowing us to link your actions during a particular browsing session.

FIRST PARTY AND THIRD PARTY COOKIES

There are two broad categories of cookies:

• Cookies set directly by us, as a first party, to your device.
• Cookies set by third parties with our permission to your device.

We allow third parties to set cookies on our Websites. Third parties may use cookies, web beacons, pixels, tags, scripts and other similar tracking technologies to enable the third party’s features or functionalities to be provided through the Website you are using. The third party setting these cookies can recognize your device both when it visits our Website and when it visits certain other websites or services. For example, our paid endorsers, or affiliates, may use third party cookies to identify you as a referral so they can be compensated if you sign up for services from us as a result of visiting one of our paid endorsers. In the same way, third party vendors such as Google may use cookies or other device identifiers to provide you with targeted advertisements based on your past visits to our Website.

CROSS-DEVICE TRACKING

We perform cross-device tracking which allows us to provide you with relevant advertising on multiple devices. By identifying browsing activity on your smartphones, tablets, desktop computers and other devices connected to the same IP address, or logged into the same account, we better understand the products and services that might be of interest to you.

LOCAL STORAGE OBJECTS

We also use Local Storage Objects, such as HTML5, to optimize screen presentation, video and other preference information.

GOOGLE, ADOBE AND OTHER ANALYTICS

We use Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics and other analytics as tools to help us understand how users engage with our Websites. Like many services, they use first party cookies to track user interactions with websites. In our case, they are used to collect information about how users use our Websites. This information is used to compile reports and to help us improve our Websites. The reports disclose Website trends without identifying individual visitors.

You can opt out of Google’s use of cookies or device identifiers without affecting how you visit or use our Website. For more information on opting out of Google’s use of cookies across all websites you use, visit this Google page: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated. To provide you with more choice on how your data is collected by Google Analytics, Google has developed an opt-out browser add-on, which is available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout and enables you to opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics.

WHY DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

We use the following types of cookies for the reasons described below.  These cookies may be set by us or a third party service provider to perform the functions described below:

• Required: These cookies and tracking technologies are required to help our Websites work correctly or required to comply with the law (e.g., security requirements of data protection law). For example, these cookies allow you to navigate our Websites and use essential features, including secure areas and shopping baskets. We do not need to obtain your consent in order to use these cookies.
• Analytics: These cookies and tracking technologies help us understand how customers and visitors interact with our Websites. They provide us with information about areas of our Websites visited, time spent on our Websites, transactions performed, and any error messages you receive.  These cookies allow us to improve the performance of our Websites.  They may collect your IP address but only for the purpose of identifying general locations of visitors and identifying fraudulent or spam traffic.
• Advertising: These cookies and tracking technologies allow us to deliver content, including advertisements, relevant to your specific interests. This content may be delivered on our Websites or on third party websites or services. They allow us to understand and improve the relevancy of our advertisements. They may track personal information, including your IP address.
• Functional: These cookies and tracking technologies allow our Websites to remember choices you make to give you better functionality and a personalized experience. For example, when you select a specific currency on one of our Websites, we will remember your currency selection when you return.

HOW CAN I CONTROL COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

If you visit our Websites from the United Kingdom, European Union or the European Economic Area, only required cookies, as described above, will be used on our Websites by default. When you visit our Websites from outside the United Kingdom and Europe, all cookies and similar tracking technologies described above will be used by default. If you would prefer not to receive personalized ads based on your browser or device usage, you may generally express your opt-out preference to no longer receive tailored advertisements.  Please note that you will continue to see advertisements, but they will no longer be tailored to your interests.

Cookies are managed on a brand-by-brand basis at the website level. This means if you manage your cookie preferences for one Smarthills brand, you will need to manage your preferences separately when you visit the Website of a different Smarthills brand.

If you opt out of receiving certain cookies from us, your web browser will be associated with a generic “opt-out” cookie, which will prevent us from associating any non-personal information with your browser. Since this program is cookie-based, you may need to opt out again if you do any of the following:

• Delete your cookies
• Block cookies, including third party cookies
• Switch internet browsers
• Change computers
• Upgrade your web browser

Internet browsers allow you to change your cookie settings via the “options” or “preferences” menu in your browser. Please note that if you set your browser to refuse or block all cookies, certain features or functionalities of our Websites will be limited or unavailable to you. For more information on how to manage your browser settings, please see below: 

• Cookie settings in Internet Explorer
• Cookie settings in Edge
• Cookie settings in Firefox
• Cookie settings in Chrome
• Cookie settings in Safari

Some internet browsers include the ability to transmit “do not track” signals. Because no industry standard has yet been developed with respect to “do not track,” our Websites do not currently process or respond to such “do not track” signals.

Some internet browsers may offer their own management tools for removing HTML5 and other Local Storage Objects.