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:

• What information we collect from you through our site and how we use it;
• What information third parties might collect through our site and how they use it;
• With whom this information is shared;
• The security measures we have in place to protect your data under our control;
• How you will be notified if we change this privacy policy.

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.

• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• 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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• If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy policy or the practices of this site, please email us at privacy-support@av.com, or for New York residents, contact http://www.oag.state.ny.us/internet/internet.html, or write to our General Counsel .
• If you do not receive a satisfactory response, then please contact TRUSTe, an independent privacy organization that will contact us on your behalf.

Last updated November 11, 2002.