Cookies information
The Economist Group's Cookie Policy
The Economist Group operates a strict privacy policy around the world. We are committed to being transparent about how we use cookies on The Economist Group’s sites and the technologies that underpin their collection and usage.
Why cookies are important
Cookies help make your online experience more efficient and relevant to your interests. For instance, they are used to remember your preferences on sites you visit often, to remember your user ID and the contents of your shopping baskets, and to help you navigate between pages more efficiently.
Please read below for more detail.
Other technologies linked to cookies
What types of cookies and other technologies does The Economist Group use and why?
How can I delete or opt out of cookies?
Changes and updates to our cookie policy
A cookie is a small file, or files on your computer, phone, or other device with a browser to save snippets of text for reference by the website you are visiting.
All cookies have expiration dates in them that determine how long they stay in your browser:
- Session cookies - these are temporary cookies that expire (and are automatically erased) whenever you close your browser. For example, we use session cookies to grant access to content and enable commenting (things you have to log in to do).
- Persistent cookies - these usually have an expiration date and so stay in your browser until they expire, or until you manually delete them. For example we use persistent cookies for functionality including the "Stay logged-in" tick box. We also use persistent cookies to better understand usage patterns so that we can improve the site for our customers.
We've included more details below to help you understand what kinds of cookies and other technologies we use.
Other technologies linked to cookies
There are other technologies which can seem similar to cookies, but are not the same, including pixels and site tags. These pixels or tags can be used to retrieve information such as your device type or operating system, IP address, time of visit, etc. (Please see our Privacy Policy for more details on the types of information that may be collected.) They are sometimes used to create or access the cookies on your browser, but are not cookies themselves. Only cookies which you can control will appear in the cookie consent tool.
What types of cookies does The Economist Group use and why?
Cookies are grouped into the following categories:
- Essential - these are cookies that are required for the regular operation of our websites. For example, some cookies allow us to ensure that people can access the subscription pages in the correct region and language for them, access the log-in pages, or carry out fraud detection and security checks (along with other similar things). These are essential for the website to work properly.
- Functional - these remember your preferences, and are intended to make your experience on our websites better for you. For example, a functional cookie is used to remember your log-in details securely if you have ticked the "Stay logged-in" box. This makes it possible for users and subscribers to return to our sites without having to log in every time. We also use a functional cookie to remember your cookie preferences from our cookie consent tool.
- Analytics – these cookies are used for performance measurement to understand things including how many people visit our websites, how they navigate our sites, and what content is popular. This allows us to improve your experience with us. Full details of the cookies we use for analytics purposes can be found in our cookie consent tool. Additionally, you can see how Google Analytics (one of our analytics tools) uses cookie information when you use our partners' sites by visiting www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners, or any other URL Google may provide from time to time.
- Advertising - these cookies enable us and our advertising partners to serve you with relevant advertisements that we think will interest you (often called behavioural advertising). You might see these advertisements on our sites including economist.com or on other sites you visit. These cookies record your visit to our website and the content you interact with, and may also be used to manage the number of times that you see an advertisement. They may be placed by us, or by advertising partners with our permission.
To ensure compliance with our policies, we restrict the use of third-party cookies to trusted partners of The Economist Group. For example, we currently allow partners including:
- JW Player, Youtube, Brightcove for our multimedia platform, and Doubleclick (Google) for our advertising platform;
- We also use third party information from third party sources to enable us to deliver advertising. Establishing a particular audience demographic allows us to target advertising based on browsing behaviour stored in a cookie. These sources are validated by the third party, not by us.
Below you'll find information and a link to our cookie consent tool to help you manage your cookie preferences.
How can I delete or opt-out of cookies?
You can opt out of cookies at any time by using our cookie consent tool. This tool includes additional detail on the types of cookies used, what information is being collected and for what purpose. It also includes links to the privacy policies for each individual cookie, giving you the option to allow or block as you choose. When you reference any one of these privacy policies you’ll find more information on the controls available to you, and your rights with respect to the personal information that these third parties access, collect and use about you. Please note that we are not responsible for the content of other external websites. Your cookie consent preferences are accessible at any time at the bottom of all Economist Group website pages.
Alternatively, the following websites provide some useful information on how to do this, as well as about your rights under current data protection and privacy regulations.
For more information, please go to:
http://www.youronlinechoices.eu if you are based in the EU; or
http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ if you are based in the US.
To opt out of cookies from Google: https://www.google.com/settings/ads
If you want to delete or disable other cookies, see: http://www.allaboutcookies.org
Will I be able to access content if I disable cookies?
You can still browse our sites with cookies disabled, although some functions may not work. For example, ticking the “Stay logged-in” box at log-in will not actually keep you logged in to the site unless you have enabled cookies. If you choose not to allow cookies when you first visit our websites and/or subsequently opt out of cookies, then because of the fact we’re unable to recognise you when you come back to the site, you’ll be asked again to set your cookie preferences.
How long will cookies last for?
We limit the lifetime of our cookies to a maximum of 13 months as required by law and so you will be asked about your cookie preferences again no later than 13 months since the last time we asked you. If you do allow cookies, then you consent to the use of cookies as described in this policy.
If I disable cookies will I still see advertisements?
Yes, but these will no longer be specific to you, your personal interests or browsing behaviours. You can consent to some or all cookies at any time (even if you have previously said no to cookies) by going to our cookie consent tool.
How do I manage my cookie preferences?
You can manage your cookie preferences and consent to some or all cookies at any time (even if you have previously said no) by going to our cookie consent tool.
From time to time, we may make changes to the privacy policy and this cookie policy. This may be in relation to changes in the law, best practice or changes in our services. These changes will be reflected in this statement, so you should check here from time to time.
Last update: May 18th 2018
