Cookies information

The Economist Group operates a strict privacy policy around the world. We are committed to being transparent about the technologies we use, and we’ve outlined below how we use cookies when you visit our site at www.economistgroup.com.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small snippet of text that a website asks your browser to store. All cookies have expiration dates in them that determine how long they stay in your browser. Cookies can be removed in two ways: automatically, when they expire, or when you manually delete them. We’ve included more details below to help you understand what kinds of cookies we use.

Does The Economist Group website use cookies?

Yes, with the primary purpose of making our website work more effectively.

What kinds of cookies does The Economist Group website use and why?

We use different kinds of cookies for various reasons:

Google analytics - to better understand usage patterns so we can improve the site for our customers. This information is anonymised—when we look at the data, in other words, we look at patterns, but we do not see individuals’ personally identifiable information (PII), for example user names or e-mail addresses. You can choose whether to allow Google analytics cookies at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=None

What other cookies might I encounter on The Economist Group website?

There are also some third-party cookies on the site. These cookies could be session (temporary cookies that expire and are automatically erased whenever you close your browser) or persistent (these usually have an expiration date far into the future and thus stay in your browser until they expire, or until you manually delete them and are set by entities other than The Economist Group. To ensure compliance with our policies, we restrict the use of third-party cookies to trusted partners of The Economist Group that offer a clear way for you to choose whether to allow cookies (eg, by blocking them). For example, we currently allow:

AddThis – used on our blogs and jobs sections only. AddThis button spreads content across the web making it easy for visitors to bookmark and share with other people. Provides statistics about bookmarking and sharing activity of users, and helps visitors create buzz for sites to increase popularity and ranking.

Disqus – used on our blogs section only. Disqus is a comment and discussion management platform that allows publishers to moderate conversations regarding content, across various social media sites. They also provide track backs and analytics reporting. This cookie is used in order to log in and post a comment.

Quantcast – used on our blogs section only and a by-product of the Disqus cookie. Quantcast is an organisation that helps us measure and verify the size of our audience in different parts of the world for advertising. No personally identifiable information (PII) is stored. If you would prefer not to allow Quantcast cookies, you can manage your preferences at http://www.quantcast.com/how-we-do-it/consumer-choice/opt-out/

ScoreCard research beacon—used on our blogs section only and a by-product of the Disqus cookie. Full Circle Studies is a market research company that studies internet trends and behaviour. They work in conjunction with distributors and content providers to develop an anonymous, census-level analysis of internet usage. Using data gleaned from its content provider partnerships, Full Circle Studies constructs a census type view of visits to that website, which it uses to develop an understanding of broader internet usage patterns.

What kinds of cookies does The Economist Group website not use?

We do not use re-targeting cookies (cookies that target advertising based on which sites you view) and do not use flash cookies (sometimes known as local shared objects or LSOs). We do not allow third-party advertising networks to drop cookies on our site to behaviourally target advertising to our users, either.

Does The Economist Group website use cookies to sell customer information?

No.

How can I delete or disable cookies?

If you want to delete or disable cookies, see: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/

Will the site work if I disable cookies?

You can browse The Economist online with cookies disabled, though some interactions may not work. For example, posting a comment on our blog will not work unless you have enabled cookies.