Introduction and Scope
This Cookie Notice (the “Notice”) is designed to assist you in understanding how and why Pew Research Center (the “Center,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) uses cookies and other similar technologies (“Tracking Technologies”) on our family of websites, which include www.pewresearch.org and any other webpage linking to this Notice (collectively, the “Websites”) to collect and develop data. We use Tracking Technologies to allow the Websites to operate, to increase their functionality and efficiency, to enable the efficient operation of the Sites, to enhance the ease of use of the Sites, to display advertisements on the Sites and elsewhere online, to gather statistics on how you use our Sites, and to fulfill other legitimate purposes as described below.
To the extent that any information collected by the Tracking Technologies, either on its own or in combination with other information, constitutes Personal Data as the term is defined in our Privacy Policy, both our Privacy Policy and this Notice shall apply to the processing and transferring of such Personal Data.
Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
Cookies. A cookie is a small text file stored on your device (computer, phone, tablet, etc.) that contains information about your browser and online activity. This information often consists of a string of numbers and letters that uniquely identifies your device.
We may also use:
Local storage. Local storage enables our Websites to store information locally on your device. Local storage may be used to improve your experience with our Websites; for example, by enabling features, remembering your preferences, and speeding up our Websites’ functionality.
Tracking pixels and web beacons. A tracking pixel, or web beacon, is a small, nonvisible graphic file used for the purpose of keeping track of user behavior, web traffic, and site conversions. A tracking pixel allows us to collect data relating to the use of our Websites. Tracking pixels are also used to help inform advertisements on third-party platforms based on the activity tracked from your browser or device, to identify return traffic from third-party platforms such as social media applications, and for third-party web analytics.
Other similar tracking technologies. We may also use other tracking technologies, such as mobile advertising IDs and tags for similar purposes as described in this Notice. As noted above, we refer to all of these technologies collectively as “Tracking Technologies” in this Notice.
How We Respond to Do Not Track Signals
“Do Not Track” is an optional browser setting that you can use to express your preferences regarding tracking by advertisers and other third parties. Please note, however, that our Websites do not take action in response to “Do Not Track” signals received from web browsers at this time.
Opting Out
In addition to managing your cookie preferences (linked at the top of this page) through our Websites, you can alter the configuration of your browser directly to reject certain types of Tracking Technologies, including cookies. Please note, however, that if you reject certain cookies, you may not be able to access and use all of the features on our Websites. For more information about how to directly manage cookies, please visit https://www.aboutcookies.org/
You may also control your online behavioral advertising preferences and opt out from having your data processed by certain marketing companies by visiting http://www.youronlinechoices.com/ and http://optout.aboutads.info/. Please note, however, that managing these preferences will not turn off internet advertisements in general. You will still receive the same number of advertisements, but those advertisements will be less reflective of your interests, as indicated by your web browsing habits. In addition, please note that the opt-out preferences that you set using these tools may be nullified if you delete your cookies after setting them.
Types of Cookies
We use session cookies and persistent cookies on our Websites. The session cookies are deleted or removed when you close your browser. The persistent cookies may remain on your device after you close your browser, but they have an expiration date.
Some of the cookies placed on your device through our Websites are first-party cookies, meaning they are placed directly by us. Others are third-party cookies, meaning they are placed on your device through our Websites by third parties such as YouTube. In other words, when you visit our Websites, certain third parties may place cookies on your device to collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites or online services. In the cookie tables below, we provide you with links to the applicable privacy notices for the providers who place third-party cookies on your device through our Websites, where possible. Please refer to the privacy notices of those third parties to learn more about the ways in which they collect and process personal data about you.