|
Glossary
Aggregate Information: As a Web site gathers individual pieces of Non-personal Information (see definition below) from its users, it may combine similar data from many or all the users of the Web site into one big "clump." ." For example, the site may add up the total number of people in Peoria, Illinois, (but not their names) who are seeking information about weight loss and compare that to the number of people in Petaluma, California seeking the same information.
This sort of statistical information is called aggregate data because it reflects the habits and characteristics of a large group of anonymous people. Web sites may use aggregate data or share it with their business partners so that the information and services they provide best meet the needs of the users. Aggregate data also helps advertisers on the Web know how effectively they are reaching their target audience. This is very similar to the way that the Nielsen ratings are used in the radio and television industries.
Click Stream or Click Trail Information: A record of all the pages you have visited during your visit to a particular Web site or the services you accessed from the site or from an email. Click Stream Information is associated with your browser and not with you personally. It records the archives of your browser .
Cookie: A small data file that is stored on the hard drive of the computer you use to view a Web site. Cookies are placed by that site or by a third party with a presence on the site, such as an advertiser using a Web Beacon (see definition below) and are accessible only by the party or site that placed the cookie (i.e. a cookie placed on your computer by WebMD isn't accessed by any other site you visit but a cookie placed on your computer by an advertiser may be accessed by any site on which that same advertiser has a presence). Cookies can contain pieces of Personally Identifiable Information (PII). WebMD encrypts any PII it stores in its cookies. These cookies often are used to make the site easier to use. For example, if you check a box to ask that we store your user name on your computer so that you don't have to enter it each time you visit the site, it's stored in a cookie on your computer.
You can control whether or not cookies are placed on your machine by WebMD or any other site or third party. You can change the settings in your browser software to disable the use of cookies; see your browser's help file to determine how to do this. Be aware that if you choose to disable cookies, some of the features on WebMD (e.g. automatic login, joining of health communities, storing your health information, etc.) will not be available to you.
Non-personal Information: Information that is not traceable back to any individual and can not be used to identify an individual. Click Stream Information is Non-personal Information, as is information such as gender, age, city and state when not linked with other Personal Information.
Opt-In/Opt-Out:Opting in (or out) means that you're specifying your choice to participate (or not) in a program, feature, tool, or enhancement on a Web site. The choice is usually presented to you if participation requires the use of personally identifiable information (PII). For example, if you wish to receive a newsletter by email on health topics from WebMD, you must indicate your choice, typically by checking or unchecking a box next to a statement such as:
Yes, I'd like to receive a free subscription to WebMD's Living Better Newsletter and periodic updates about new WebMD features and services.
Depending on the feature in question, the box next to the statement may be already checked or unchecked when it's presented to you. If the box is already checked, you may opt out by clicking on the box to remove the checkmark. If the box is unchecked, you may opt in by clicking on the box to place a checkmark in it, indicating your wish to participate.
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or Personal Information: : Information that can be traced back to an individual (contrast with Non-Personal Information and Aggregate Information). Examples of PII include your name, home address, telephone number, email address, and Social Security number.
If other pieces of information are linked to PII, they also become PII. For example, if you use a nickname to chat online and give out your real name while chatting, your nickname becomes PII when linked with other PII.
Web Beacons (also often referenced as "clear GIFs", "web bugs", "1-by-1 GIFs", "Single-Pixal GIFs", "1 x 1 Pixals", or "clear Pixals"): Tiny graphic image files, imbedded in a web page in GIF, jpeg or HTML format, that provide a presence on the web page and send back to its home server (which can belong to the host site, a network advertiser or some other third party) information from the Users' browser, such as the IP address, the URL of the page on which the beacon is located, the type browser that is accessing the site and the ID number of any Cookies on the Users' computer previously placed by that server. Web Beacons can also be used to place a cookie on the Users' browser.
© Copyright 2004 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
| 
