The law requires web sites to obtain their user’s explicit permission to store cookies on the user’s computer, whether it be PC, MAC, tablet or smartphone. The Charlie Farley Band website does not store any cookies. However, the Charlie Farley Band website does store the name of someone who posts a comment on the Comments page.
The data displayed on Charlie Farley Band website pages is stored in a database and retrieved dynamically to create the correct page at the user’s request. While the page is being constructed a count may be made on the database of the specific page requested. Other usage statistics are also recorded. These include your IP (network) address, your computer’s operating system, and your browser. All this information is required in order to give you a web page tailor-made for your system whether it be PC, tablet or smartphone. Only the webmaster and approved registered editors have access to update the database with new or updated information.
The Charlie Farley Band website is hosted by 1&1 IONOS, my Internet Service Provider (ISP). They record detailed usage statistics including counts of the use of each page, the browsers employed by users (MS Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox, etc.), the computer operating systems used (Windows XP, 7, 8, 10, MAC OS X, iOS, etc.) and other technical information. This type of information is available to the Charlie Farley Band webmaster for analysis. There is no user personal information available. You can read the 1&1 IONOS privacy policy here.
If you arrive at the Charlie Farley Band website (or any other web site) via a search, either by Google or any of the other search services, your link normally goes via the search company’s server so that they can record users’ page targets. The same is true of price comparison and marketing sites such as Amazon. This information is used by them to selectively target their advertising. Details of these practices may be found on their respective privacy policy pages.
This list is not exhaustive. There are many other uses of cookies on the larger commercial web sites.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a usually very small computer file recording information about the user’s use of a particular web site. There are two types of cookie – session cookies and persistent cookies.
Session cookies are deleted when you close your browser or, in some cases, when you log out of an online service. These cookies are also commonly used to reduce page loading times and to make more efficient use of server processing, both enabling the user to experience a better and faster service.
Persistent cookies are stored on your computer indefinitely, on your hard disk if your computer has one. Persistent cookies are commonly used to store information that will be of value the next time you visit the same web site, for example, whether or not you want your userid or email remembered.
Many ISPs also keep information in log files which are stored on the web site server. There is a multitude of uses to which ISPs may put this data. Please consult their Privacy Policy web page for details.
It is possible to remove persistent cookies and you should refer to your ‘help’ system for instructions on how to do this.
What happens if I disallow cookies?
Most PC and MAC browsers provide an option in their settings to prevent the creation and keeping of cookies. So far as the Charlie Farley Band website is concerned, nothing will change if you disallow cookies. However, some complex sites will simply not work without them. In particular, you may find that banking and similar sites just won’t work without them and they may not even allow you to logon until you allow cookies once again.
Should I be concerned about cookie use?
Generally no. However, there are some web sites, usually those selling products or services, that make extensive use of information collected via cookies. Each of these companies should now be soliciting your permission to do so. Some may well offer the user a choice of cookie use, for instance, enabling the user to disconnect from marketing purposes. Others will offer an all or nothing capability. Beware that if you say ‘no’ a web site may become unusable to you. Many commercial web sites read cookies placed by their competitors in order to see what products you may have been looking for that they might also offer you. However, those that are alert to this will encrypt the cookie data.
Summary
Cookies are pretty well essential for a good internet browsing experience. The Charlie Farley Band website is a simple site which does not use them. We do not collect any personal information from you or your computer. Our ISP and some of the sites we link to collect a wide range of statistical information and may in some circumstances collect personal information.