Cookie Policy

A. Cookie

A cookie is a text file stored by a web server on a computer or mobile device, and the content of a cookie can be retrieved and read only by the server that created the cookie. Cookies are unique to the browser or mobile application you are using. The text in a cookie often consists of identifiers, site names, and some numbers and characters.

Sometimes, VSARV stores cookies on computers or mobile devices for the purpose of improving user experience, including the following scenarios:

(1) Technical cookies: Login and verification. When you use a VSARV ID to log in to a website, the “session-based” cookies ensure that your visit to this site functions as smoothly as possible.

(2) Personalisation cookies: Storage of your preferences and settings. A website can use cookies to save settings, such as the language setting and font size on your computer or mobile device, items in your shopping cart, and other browser preferences.

(3) Advertising cookies. VSARV uses cookies to collect information about your online activities and interests and provide you with advertisements that correlate most highly with you.

(4) Statistical cookies. With cookies, VSARV can collect information about your use of our websites and other applications, either for a single visit (using a session cookie) or for repeated visits (using a persistent cookie).

(5) Social Media Cookies. Social media cookies are linked to services provided by third parties, such as ‘Like’ buttons and ‘Share’ buttons. The third party provides these services in return for recognising that you have visited our websites.

You can manage or delete cookies at your own preference. For details, visit AboutCookies.org. You can clear all the cookies stored on your computer, and most current web browsers provide the option of blocking cookies. However, blocking cookies will require you to change your user settings every time you visit our website. Find out how to manage cookie settings for your browser here: Internet Explorer > Google Chrome > Mozilla Firefox > Safari > Opera.

If you clear cookies, you will need to change your settings the next time you visit VSARV websites. Note that some VSARV services require the use of cookies. Disabling cookies may affect your use of some or all functions of these services.

B. Web Beacons and Pixel Tags

In addition to cookies, VSARV and some third parties may also use web beacons and pixel tags on websites. A web beacon is usually an electronic graphic image embedded into a website or email to identify your device cookies when you browse the website or email. Pixel tags allow VSARV to send emails in a way that is readable to you and find out whether an email is opened.

VSARV and some third parties use these technologies for various purposes, including analysing service usage (together with cookies) and providing more satisfactory content and advertisements to you. For example, when you receive an email from VSARV, it may contain a click-through URL which links to a VSARV web page. If you click the link, VSARV will track your visit to help us learn about your preferences for products and services and improve our customer service. You can unsubscribe from the mailing list of VSARV at any time if you do not want to be tracked in this manner.

C. Other Local Storage

VSARV and some third parties may use other local storage technologies, for example, local shared objects (also called "Flash cookies") and HTML5 local storage, in certain products and services. Similar to cookies, these technologies store information on your device and can record some information about your activities and preferences. However, these technologies may use different media from cookies. Therefore, you may not be able to control them using standard browser tools and settings. For details about how to disable or delete information contained in Flash cookies, click here.

D. Do Not Track

Many web browsers provide a Do Not Track function that can release Do Not Track requests to websites. Currently, major Internet standardisation organisations have not established policies to specify how websites should handle these requests. If you enable Do Not Track in your browser, all VSARV websites will respect your selection.