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Cookie-Disclosure Statement


We are often asked about our use of cookie technology, which we employ at The Wall Street Journal Online to allow you to move quickly through our site. Below you'll find information describing our most common uses of cookies, which are an inherent part of our production process and have enabled us to better serve you.

What's a cookie?
A cookie is a small file that is sent to your computer by a site's server. A cookie can be a record of your visit to a site, including information such as your User Name, registration information, time of last visit, pages viewed, etc. A cookie created by one site's servers can be retrieved only by that site's servers. Thus, information in the Online Journal cookies is not accessible to other sites.

Using the Online Journal
In order to access The Online Journal successfully, your browser must be set to "accept all cookies." If you set your browser to "not accept" any cookies, you will not be able to use WSJ.com.

We also do not suggest that you navigate The Online Journal site with your browser's "cookie alert" feature enabled. While you certainly could set your browser to alert you each time a cookie is passed to your machine, you most likely will find the experience of having to respond to frequent cookie alerts quite frustrating while trying to enjoy your subscription. We suggest that you turn the "cookie alert" feature off, or perhaps use the site for a short time with it on, once you've seen firsthand how we use the technology.

Why do we use cookies?
We use cookies to allow you to move quickly through our site. We accomplish this in many ways, using several different cookies. When you first enter the Online Journal, for example, we use a test cookie to confirm your browser's ability to retain cookies. Next, we check our database to verify your subscription so you can gain access. A cookie is then temporarily "set" within your browser to allow you to proceed without having to confirm your identity with each subsequent page you request to view.

Without cookie technology, we would not be able to offer you convenient features such as the ability to store your User Name and Password and save personalized news or portfolio settings.

Other cookies that you will receive during your sessions here are from third-party service providers such as BigCharts or third-party network advertisers such as DoubleClick. These network advertisers may use their own cookies in order to serve ads on our Web sites, ensuring you won't see the same ads over and over again. You can also read DoubleClick's privacy policy or read BigCharts' privacy policy.

When you view an ad for the Online Journal on other sites, our third-party advertising company may place or recognize a unique cookie on your browser. The Online Journal and its' advertising company also may use Web beacons (invisible images often referred to as pixel tags or clear GIFs) to note which Online Journal pages you visit after viewing our ads. The information that is collected through the use of these images is not personally identifiable and is used only to track response to our advertising efforts.

So what's in it for me?
Here's a quick rundown of what we see as the biggest advantages of cookies:

  • Faster, more convenient access. We won't have to ask you to identify yourself with each new page requested. We can also deliver to you customized information and store your settings more efficiently.
  • Better information. We want to give you features and services in which you're interested. Through the use of cookies, we can determine which features are most popular with subscribers on an aggregate basis and thus better serve your needs by developing new features and services in response to our analysis of subscribers' usage.
  • More efficient ad processing. Cookies enable us to streamline our ad presentations.

    Will the cookies you send me go away?
    Some of our cookies are long term. If they weren't, we'd need to ask you for certain information with each new session, such as your User Name. Some cookies do expire after a short period of time. Remember, cookies are small files and won't pose any significant disk-space concerns on your computer.

    In fact, most of The Online Journal cookies expire after 12 hours from their time of issue. Others, such as those required to retain settings you elect (User Name, Password, Personalization preferences, etc.) will continue to reside on your hard drive for subsequent use by your browser, but are quite small and should not pose any significant disk capacity concern.

    You are, of course, free to clear any and all cookies from your hard drive any time you wish; simply search your system for any files named cookie*.* (or similar) and delete these at your discretion. To remove only the cookies issued by the Online Journal, you may bookmark and access the following URL designed for this purpose:

    Delete Cookie

    Remember, however, that deleting these cookies means any long-term settings (such as your stored User Name) will need to be reset.

    There are also a number of software and shareware programs available that are designed to periodically purge cookie files from your hard disk. We do not recommend these applications and, as such, cannot address any resulting support issues that may be related to the use of these programs.