The Expert - THE EXPERT - COOKIE POLICY

The Expert – Cookie Policy

Effective: June 14, 2022

The Expert, Inc. (“The Expert,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) is committed to transparency with respect to its data collection and use practices. This Cookie Policy (“Cookie Policy”) explains how we use cookies and related technologies throughout The Expert Service and your related choices. Please note that this Cookie Policy is provided as a statement about privacy and The Expert’s use of cookies and similar technologies. Capitalized terms used in this Cookie Policy but not defined herein will have the meanings given to them in our Privacy Notice.

1. “Cookies” Explained and Why They are Used

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your computer or device in order to remember information about you, such as your IP address, device identifier, language and/or currency preference or login information. You can find more information about cookies at: www.allaboutcookies.org or www.youronlinechoices.eu.

We also use a range of similar technologies that are deployed when you visit a website, and/or may be embedded in the web pages and/or emails you receive, and typically stored on your computer, device and/or web browser, including, “web beacons” and/or “tracking tags” which are small graphics, which may be invisible to you, that have a unique identifier and are embedded in the web pages you visit and/or email message you receive, and “embedded scripts” which are programming codes that are designed to collect information about your interactions with The Expert Service, such as the links you click on.

We’ll use the term “cookie” throughout this Cookie Policy to cover all of these technologies, but we’ll make sure we provide you with clear details about them all so that you can make informed choices about your cookie settings. Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent prior to setting cookies (except for strictly necessary cookies).

Cookies may be used for many different purposes. For example, cookies can be used to show that you have previously visited and/or used a feature of The Expert Service and to identify which parts of The Expert Service you might be most interested in. Cookies can also improve your online experience by storing your preferences during your visit and/or use of The Expert Service. Cookies can also be used for security, fraud detection and authentication purposes.

Types of Cookies

Session and Persistent Cookies

Session Cookies - these are cookies which expire once you close your web browser; and
Persistent Cookies - these are cookies which stay on your device for a set period of time or until you delete them.

First and Third Party Cookies

First-party cookies - First-party cookies are directly stored by the website (or domain) you visit. These cookies allow website owners to collect analytics data, remember language settings, and perform other useful functions that provide a good user experience;
Third-party cookies - Third-party cookies are created by domains that are not the website (or domain) that you are visiting. These are usually used for online-advertising purposes and placed on a website through adding scripts or tags. A third-party cookie is accessible on any website that loads the third-party server’s code.

2 . The Categories of Cookies Used by The Expert

The Expert, or our service providers acting on our behalf, uses the types of cookies identified above in the following ways:

Strictly Necessary – These cookies are necessary for The Expert Service to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set or placed in response to actions made by you, which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling in forms. For example, Strictly Necessary cookies are used by us to:

Remember information that you fill in when performing certain activities while accessing or using The Expert Service.
Pass information from one page to the next, for example when filling out support forms or surveys.
Read your browser and device settings to optimize the display of the Site and Marketplace.
Locate and identify misuse of The Expert Service.
Load the Site and Marketplace uniformly to maintain accessibility.
Fraud prevention and authentication.

Functionality Cookies - These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your username, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customize. The information these cookies collect may be anonymized and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites. For example, we use Functionality cookies to:

Remember information that you fill in when performing certain activities in connection with your use of The Expert Service.
Store your preferences such as language and location.

_Performance/Analytics Cookies - _These cookies collect information about how visitors use The Expert Service, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages or in interactions with The Expert Service. These cookies collect anonymous information on the pages visited. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how The Expert Service performs. Web analytics that use cookies to gather data to enhance the performance of a website fall into this category. This category does not include cookies used for behavioral/targeted advertising networks. For example, Performance/Analytics cookies are used by us to:

Maintain, operate, and continually improve The Expert Service.
Keep track of the number of visitors to the pages within the Site and/or Marketplace.
Keep track of the length of time that each visitor spends on the pages within the Site and/or the features of the Site and/or The Expert Service.
Determine the order in which a visitor visits the various pages within the Site and/or features of The Expert Service.
Determine the website a visitor was at before navigating to the Site and the website a visitor is going to immediately after leaving the Site.
Identify performance issues with The Expert Service (or any component or feature thereof).
Assess which parts of The Expert Service (or any component thereof) need improvement.
Obtain information from our email newsletters or other communications we send to you, including whether you opened or forwarded a newsletter or clicked on any of its content, which tells us about our newsletters' effectiveness and helps us ensure that we're delivering information that you find interesting.

Targeting/Advertising Cookies – These cookies are designed to gather information from you and used to deliver advertisements more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaigns. They are usually placed by advertising networks with the website operator’s permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organizations such as advertisers. Targeting or advertising cookies are almost always third party cookies, which means, the cookies follow the user as they visit other websites. For example, Targeting/Advertising cookies are used by us to:

Advertise The Expert and our products and services across the Internet.
Track the performance and efficacy of our advertisement campaigns.
Keep track of how many visitors click on an advertisement.
Keep track of which advertisements you have already been shown so that you are not always shown the same ones.
Tailor our marketing to better suit your needs and only display ads that are relevant to you.

Third Party Analytics Providers, Tools and Advertising Partners

We use certain third party analytics providers, tools and/or advertising partners that may use Performance/Analytics and/or Targeting/Advertising cookies. For more information on how these technologies are used by the third party analytics tools and advertising partners, please refer to the policies linked below of the applicable third party analytic tools and/or advertising partners:

Google Products (Google Analytics, Google Remarketing, DoubleClick Digital Marketing):
- www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/
- https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy/dpo
Facebook Products (which may include the Facebook Signal, Facebook SDK & Facebook Pixel):
- https://www.facebook.com/about/privacy
- https://www.facebook.com/about/ads/#types
Hotjar: www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/
Klavyio: https://www.klaviyo.com/legal/privacy-notice
Pinterest: https://policy.pinterest.com/en/privacy-policy
Viglink: https://www.sovrn.com/legal/privacy-policy/
Full Story: https://www.fullstory.com/legal/privacy-policy/
Bing Universal Event Tracking (Microsoft): https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement
Sentry: https://sentry.io/privacy/
SendGrid (a Twilio Company): https://sendgrid.com/, https://www.twilio.com/legal/privacy
Arta: https://arta.io/privacy-policy
Flxpoint: https://flxpoint.com/terms-of-service/

3. How to Manage Your Cookie Preferences

Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent prior to setting cookies (except for strictly necessary cookies). While tracking is widespread over the internet, there are things you can do to minimize these activities with respect to browser cookies.

Browser Settings

Most web and mobile device browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can change your browser to prevent that or to notify you each time a cookie is set.

In order to manage your cookie preferences, you may alter the cookie settings in your browser settings at any time. In addition, depending on your location, we may provide additional methods for you to manage your cookie preferences. If you do disable certain cookies, you may find that certain features and/or functionality of The Expert Service do not work.

To learn more about cookies, including how to manage cookies and opt-out of cookies being placed on your device, please visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/index.html.

Do Not Track Settings

You may turn on the Do Not Track (“DNT”) setting in your browser, which will enable your browser to send a special signal to websites, analytics companies, plug in providers, and other web services you encounter while browsing to stop tracking your activity. To turn on your DNT signal, please visit https://allaboutdnt.com/#adjust-settings. Please note that not all companies will respond to or honor DNT signals.
Note that The Expert does not process or respond to web browsers' "do not track" signals or other similar transmissions that indicate a request to disable online tracking of users who use the Site.

Targeting/Advertising Cookies

You can opt out of targeted advertising by:
In addition, some of our third party analytics and/or advertising/targeting partners may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") or Digital Advertising Alliance ("DAA") Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising. NAI and DAA each provide information regarding procedures for opting-out of targeted online advertising from participating companies.
- For information from NAI about opting out, click here, or visit http://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1.
- For information from DAA about opting out, click here or visit: http://optout.aboutads.info/.

Please note that even if you opt out of targeting/advertising cookies, advertisements may still be visible to you when using the Site.

Google Analytics Opt-Out

You can download the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout/.

4. Modifications to this Policy

The Expert reserves the right to amend this Cookie Policy at any time and without notice. The updated and amended Cookie Policy will be effective upon posting. When we make material changes to this Cookie Policy, we’ll provide you with prominent notice e.g., by displaying a prominent notice on the Site. If you do not agree to the revised Cookie Policy, you should alter your preferences, or consider ceasing use of The Expert Service. By continuing to access or make use of The Expert Service after the changes become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Cookie Policy.