Last Revised: 05/25/17
We Use a Variety of Tracking Technologies
We use a variety of tracking technologies on our websites and apps. We may use these tools on other platforms too, like email and social media sites. In this document we call all of these websites, apps and platforms “Sites.” We, and third parties We work with, collect personal and non-personal information about users over time and across different Sites when you use these Sites. We collect this information using a variety of tracking tools including cookies, beacons, pixels, tags, statistical IDs, mobile advertising IDs, flash cookies, and similar technologies.
Information We Collect with Tracking Technologies
When you visit our Sites, we may collect information using various tracking techniques about how you use the Sites (e.g., the pages you view, the links you click, how frequently you access the Sites, and other actions you take on the Sites). We may also collect log file information from your browser or mobile device including your web request, IP address, browser type, information about your mobile device, referring / exit pages and URLs, domain names, and landing pages. We may work with third parties to employ technologies, including the application of statistical modeling tools, which attempt to recognize you across multiple devices. When you access our Sites using a mobile device, we may collect information about that device including unique identification numbers associated with your device or our mobile app, mobile carrier, device type, model and manufacturer, phone number, and, depending on your mobile device settings, information regarding the location of your mobile device.
We Use Tracking Technologies for a Variety of Reasons
Tracking technologies are used to understand the various activities and behaviors of our customers and Site visitors. We, or third parties we work with, do this for many reasons, including:
· To recognize new or past visitors to our Sites.
· To present more personalized content.
· To improve your online experience.
· To optimize your shopping experience.
· To provide Site and service enhancements.
· To identify visitors across devices, sales channels, third party websites and Sites.
· To serve customized content and ads (see below for more on interest-based advertising).
· To better understand the interests of customers and visitors and to monitor the effectiveness of our Sites.
· To help us measure traffic and usage trends for the Sites and to understand more about the demographics of our users.
· Otherwise plan for and enhance our Sites.
We Engage in Interest-Based Advertising
Surface Pros and the third parties we work with display interest-based advertising (sometimes referred to as personalized or targeted ads) and other custom content. We do this using information gathered about you over time across multiple Sites, including mobile apps.
Our interest-based ads may be served to you on Surface Pros Sites, in emails or on third-party Sites. We might serve these ads, or third parties may serve ads. They might be about us or about other companies’ products or services.
How We Gather Relevant Information About You for Interest-Based Advertising
Our ads may be based on information you submit on our Sites or Sites run by third parties. It may also be based on other interactions you have with us or our content. This might include interactions in our branches, or through emails you get from us. It could also be based on other activities and behaviors that you demonstrate online or through interactions with us or third parties.
We work with third parties who help gather this information. These third parties might link personal information such as your name or email address to other information they may have. That might include past purchases made offline or online or it might include other online activities and behaviors.
The information we collect enables us to learn about what purchases you made, what ads or content you see, what ads you click, and other actions you take on our Sites including whether you have downloaded an app. This allows us to provide you with more useful and relevant ads for products which may be of interest to you. Also, if we know what ads you are shown we can try not to show you the same ones repeatedly.
You Can Opt-Out of Some Interest-Based Advertising
There are various ways to opt-out of interest-based advertising. The Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising provides consumers with the ability to opt-out of having their online behavior used for interest-based advertising using third party cookies. If you want to opt out of this online behavioral advertising, visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices/. This will opt you out of many –but not all- of the interest-based advertising activities in which we or third parties engage.
We also work with third parties who use a different process for serving you interest-based advertising. Some of these third parties have different opt-out mechanisms. For example, one of these third parties uses statistical IDs to help us serve you ads in which you may be interested. To opt out of this interest-based advertising, please go here.
Other third-party Sites provide visitors with the ability to opt-out of receiving interest-based ads on their Sites that you need to control through your settings on that Site. For example, to opt out of Google’s use of your online behavior for advertising purposes, visit Google’s Ad Settings page. To opt out of Facebook’s use of your online behavior for advertising purposes in its mobile app newsfeed, visit the “Ad Settings” tab in your profile.
The Digital Advertising Alliance also offers a tool for opting out of the collection of information across mobile devices for interest based advertising. To opt-out of this cross-device interest based advertising from companies participating in this tool, download the appchoices app here.
Choices you make may be browser and device specific. If you delete your cookies or use a different browser or a different computer or device, you may need to update your opt-out choices.
You Can Control Certain Tracking Tools
Some browsers have a “Do Not Track” feature that lets you tell websites that you do not want to have your online activities tracked. These features are not yet uniform. We are not currently set up to respond to those signals.
You have the ability to control some of our use of cookies. How you do so depends on the type of cookie. You may be able to configure certain browsers to delete or disable browser cookies. Please refer to your browser’s or mobile device’s technical information for instructions on how to delete or disable cookies and other tracking tools. To control flash cookies, which we may use on certain websites from time to time, go to: http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html. Why? Because flash cookies do not reside in your browser, and thus your browser settings will not affect them. Choices you make about cookies are also browser and device specific.
NOTE: If you configure your computer or device to block cookies on your browser, certain features or functionality of our Sites may not work. If you block or delete cookies, not all of the tracking described in this notice will stop.