What happens to a person's data?
-
Cookies
,
beacons
,
and
flash cookies
are used to collect it.
- Data collected is generally used to include a person's browser in an audience segment.
- Cookies are used for other things too; enabling them on a computer can make navigating the web easier.
- Some companies collect data and sell it to other companies; being familiar with company privacy policies helps people protect their privacy.
- Opting out of interest-based advertising doesn't mean people stop receiving ads.
- In certain cases, data may be combined with other sources (or with personal information) to produce more detailed profiles.
How does someone opt out?
- Companies usually provide their own opt-out mechanisms through their websites. A good place to start is a company's privacy policy.
What happens when I opt out?
- When a person opts out, either directly through a company or via Ghostery Enterprise, a cookie indicating that they've opted out is set by each company the person wishes to opt out from. Deleting cookies will remove that indicator and opt an individual back in.
- In order for an opt-out to be listed at Ghostery Enterprise, the company providing the opt-out must, at least, agree to not use data collected from the opted-out browser for third party ad customisation purposes. Some companies will provide additional opt-outs for other categories of data use (for example, analytics), or will automatically avoid other categories of use once you opt out. For information about each company's opt-out policy, refer to the company's privacy policy.
- Since opt-outs listed at Ghostery Enterprise are generally specific to a particular kind of data use, companies that a person opts out from may still collect data about them for other purposes, unless their opt-out policies say otherwise.
- Opting out of ad customisation is not the same thing as opting out of ads. People will still see ads, and in some cases ads promoting the same products. But those ads will not be customised by the companies they have opted out of.