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Privacy Policy Details

  

AltaVista: privacy policy STATEMENT  
 

AltaVista is committed to respecting and protecting your personal privacy. Our privacy policy is succinctly explained below. You can get additional details by clicking on the highlighted links. Also, please read our Children's privacy policy to learn about how we treat information collected from children.

TRUSTe: Click to Verify
  

TRUSTe Certification  
 

AltaVista participates in the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization that wants to build users' trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. Because we at AltaVista want to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy, we have agreed to describe our information practices and have our privacy practices reviewed by TRUSTe. By displaying the TRUSTe trustmark, we agree to notify you of:

Questions regarding our privacy policy should be directed to:

General Counsel
AltaVista Company
1070 Arastradero Road
Palo Alto, CA 94304

If you do not receive a satisfactory response, then please contact TRUSTe, who will then contact us on your behalf.

  

What Does the AltaVista Privacy Policy Cover?  
 
  • This privacy policy applies to web pages ending in altavista.com or av.com that contain a link to this privacy policy at the bottom of the web page. For further information, click here.
  • For our AltaVista Software site privacy policy click here.
  • Inclusion of the AltaVista logo at the top of a web page does not necessarily mean that this privacy policy applies. Be sure to check the URL that you link to from AltaVista web pages to determine whether this privacy policy applies. If you have any questions about this, contact us at privacy-support@av.com.

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What Information Does AltaVista Collect From You?  
 
  • You can visit our site and use most of our services without having to tell us who you are or reveal any personally identifiable information to us. There are, however, a few instances where we do collect personally identifiable information in order to fulfill your request. Click here for examples of these instances.
  • Whenever you visit AltaVista, our web server logs automatically receive and record anonymous information from your web browser including your IP Address, AltaVista cookie information, the AltaVista page(s) you request, the time spent on each web page and any search terms you query.
  • AltaVista uses this anonymous information to customize your experience on our site, to show you more relevant advertising messages, and to improve our services in general. For example, when you use AltaVista's Toolbar, AltaVista can collect aggregate information such as the web pages visited and the time spent on each page. This information allows other users to benefit from the quality searches you perform, ultimately receiving the most relevant, pertinent information. We ordinarily do not attempt to link this information to a specific person. Click here for exceptions to this practice.

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Do Any Third Parties Receive or Collect Your Information Through AltaVista?  
 
  • In the few instances where AltaVista collects personally identifiable information, AltaVista will not share it with other companies or individuals unless:
    • We have your permission to share the information;
    • We need to share your information with certain third parties with which we have a business relationship in order to provide a product or service you have requested. Unless we tell you otherwise, these third parties do not have the right to use your personal information we share with them beyond what is necessary to deliver your requested product or service; or
    • We comply with subpoenas or court orders.
  • Furthermore, AltaVista will not sell or disclose your personally identifiable information as customer lists to anyone. Nor will we share with anyone personally identifiable information about you that is of medical, financial or sexual nature.
  • AltaVista shares some of the user information, such as user trends, search language, and time of day with third parties that may set and access cookies on your computer. Other advertisers or advertising services may set cookies but this information is not shared with AltaVista nor is it personally identifiable information.
  • None if these third parties nor any other advertiser or advertising service, receives personally identifiable information from AltaVista. However, certain advertisements or contests you see on our site may provide for the collection of personally identifiable information. Such information is never shared with AltaVista. For more information, click here.

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What Security Measures Are in Place to Protect Your Information?  
 
  • AltaVista operates secure data networks protected by industry standard firewall and password protection. We have security measures in place to attempt to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of your user data.
  • Only certain employees have access to the information you provide us.

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How Will You Be Notified if AltaVista Changes This privacy policy?  
 
  • AltaVista updates this policy from time to time. If we are going to use personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time of collection, we will notify you via email. You will have a choice as to whether or not we use your information in this different manner. In addition, if we make any material changes in our privacy practices that do not affect user information already stored in our databases, we will post a prominent notice on our web site notifying users of the change. Bear in mind that the only way to ensure your personal privacy whenever you are on the Internet is to make sure your browser is configured so that you are alerted to all cookies.

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Your Questions or Suggestions Regarding This privacy policy.  
 

Last updated November 11, 2002.

  

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