AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. together with its AFS worldwide network of exchange organizations (AFS Network Organizations), are collectively referred to herein as “AFS”.
AFS and its third-party partners may use cookies, invisible pixels, and web beacons to obtain information about you while visiting our websites. A cookie is a very small text file that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. AFS cookies assign your computer with a unique identifier, which in turn, becomes your identification card whenever you return to a AFS website.
Cookies are designed to save you time because they help us to provide you with a customized experience without you having to remind us of your preferences each time you return to our web pages. AFS cookies are not designed to damage your files, nor can they read information from other files on your computer hard drive.
Cookies can also help us provide you with a personalized on-line experience in the following ways:
- they remember your user name and password for future visits so log-in is easier and faster.
- they ensure you are provided with the appropriate frames and content.
- they ensure you obtain all requested information.
- they help us deliver communications that are relevant and responsive to your interests and location.
AFS cookies are limited to our websites only, and are not designed to follow you when traveling on the Internet after leaving AFS-owned websites. We track the usage of our websites in order to better meet your needs and to help make it easier for you to find information in the future. Please note that in addition to AFS cookies, various third parties may also place cookies on your computer’s hard drive. AFS is not responsible for the presence or absence of third-party cookies, or for the technological capabilities or practices employed by third parties in connection with third-party cookies.
Third party cookies might also be used, depending on the content displayed. Examples are: Google Analytics, Salesforce, Pardot, WordPress, Addthis, Mailchimp, Hotjar, Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Squarespace, Bridge, Amazon AWS, CloudFlare, TikTok, etc. As is true of most websites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information includes Internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and clickstream data. We use this information, which does not identify individual users, to analyze trends, to administer our websites, to track users’ movements around the various sites and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.
Complete list of cookies Used on the website
Essentials:
- AWS Cloudfront: This is a content delivery network from Amazon.
- Content delivery
- Technologies Used: This list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Cookies
- Data Collected: This list represents all (personal) data that is collected by or through the use of this service.
- User agent data
- IP Address
- Usage data
- Device operating system
- Browser information
- Device information
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data needs to be deleted as soon as it is no longer needed for the stated processing purposes.The data will be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed for the processing purposes.
- Vimeo: This cookie for video is vimeo’s embeddable video player that uses first-party cookies that we consider essential to the video player experience. We do not use third-party analytics or advertising cookies when our video player appears on a third-party website.
- Content delivery
- Technologies Used: This list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Cookies
- Data Collected:
- No personal information collected
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data will be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed for the processing purposes.
Analytics:
- Google Analytics: This is a web analytics service. With this the user can measure the advertising ROI as well as track Flash, video, and social networking sites and applications.
- Analytics
- Marketing
- Technologies Used: This list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Cookies
- Pixel
- Data Collected: This list represents all (personal) data that is collected by or through the use of this service.
- App updates
- Browser information
- Click path
- Date and time of visit
- Device information
- Downloads
- Flash version
- Location information
- IP address
- JavaScript support
- Pages visited
- Purchase activity
- Referrer URL
- Usage data
- Widget interactions
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer needed for the stated processing purposes.The Retention Period depends on the type of the saved data. Each client can also choose how long Google Analytics retains data before automatically deleting it.
- Google Analytics 4: This is a new version of the tracking tool Google Analytics. Processing Company: Google.
- Analytics
- Marketing
- Technologies UsedThis list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Tracking code
- Data Collected: This list represents all (personal) data that is collected by or through the use of this service.
- Account data
- Anonymised IP address
- App updates
- Bounce rates
- Browser information
- Click path
- Date and time of visit
- Device information
- Downloads
- Duration of visit
- Location information
- Internet service provider
- Mouse movements
- Screen resolution
- Behavioural data
- Referrer URL
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer needed for the stated processing purposes.The client can choose how long Google Analytics retains data. The maximum amount of retention period is 26 months.
- Hotjar: We use Hotjar in order to better understand our users’ needs and to optimize this service and experience. Hotjar is a technology service that helps us better understand our users’ experience.
- Analytics
- Hotjar uses cookies and other technologies to collect data on our users’ behavior and their devices.
- Cookies
- Data Collected: This includes a device’s IP address (processed during your session and stored in a de-identified form), device screen size, device type (unique device identifiers), browser information, geographic location (country only), and the preferred language used to display our website. Hotjar stores this information on our behalf in a pseudonymized user profile. Hotjar is contractually forbidden to sell any of the data collected on our behalf.
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer needed for the stated processing purposes.
Marketing:
- AddThis: This is a platform used to display customized notes and information. AddThis collects personal information in the form of an email address when you request the service to share via email. AddThis uses the email address provided, but it is not stored. The person with whom you share the site will see your email address but otherwise it is not shared with third parties and not merged with any non-personal information.
- Technologies Used: This list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Pixel
- Data Collected: It also collects non-personal information in the form of web analytics, which they share in aggregated form. Cookies and web beacons collect information but do not track the individual user. AddThis says its servers log:
- your internet protocol (IP) address.
- browser type.
- browser language.
- the date and time you visited that web page.
- if you come to a web page where an AddThis Button is enabled via a search – engine such as Google, the web search that landed you on that web page.
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer needed for the stated processing purposes.
- Technologies Used: This list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Google Tag Manager: This is a tag management system. With this the user can update measurement codes and related code fragments collectively known as tags on the users website or mobile app.
- Tag Management
- Technologies Used: This list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Pixel
- Data Collected: This list represents all (personal) data that is collected by or through the use of this service.
- Aggregated data about tag firing
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data needs to be deleted as soon as it is no longer needed for the stated processing purposes.The data will be deleted after 14 days of retrieval.
- Facebook Social Plugins: This is a social plug-in from Facebook, which enables integration of Facebook content on third-party websites.
- Integration of Facebook functions
- Advertisement
- Personalization
- Optimization
- Technologies UsedThis list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Cookies
- Data Collected: This list represents all (personal) data that is collected by or through the use of this service.
- Usage data
- Browser information
- Date and time of visit
- Facebook user ID
- HTTP-Header
- Websites visited
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data will be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed for the processing purposes.
- Facebook Pixel: This is a Tracking technology offered by Facebook and used by other Facebook services such as Facebook Custom Audiences.
- Advertisement
- Analytics
- Marketing
- Retargeting
- Tracking
- Technologies Used: This list represents all technologies this service uses to collect data. Typical technologies are Cookies and Pixels that are placed in the browser.
- Cookies
- Pixel
- Data Collected: This list represents all (personal) data that is collected by or through the use of this service.
- Ads viewed
- Browser information
- Content viewed
- Device information
- Geographic location
- HTTP-header
- Interactions with advertisement, services, and products
- IP address
- Items clicked
- Marketing information
- Non-sensitive custom data
- Pages visited
- Pixel ID
- Referrer URL
- Success of marketing campaigns
- Usage data
- User behaviour
- Facebook cookie information
- Facebook user ID
- Usage/click behaviour
- Retention Period: The retention period is the time span the collected data is saved for the processing purposes. The data will be deleted the latest after 720 days.
In some of our email messages we use a “click-through URL” linked to content on one of the AFS websites. When a customer clicks one of these URLs, they pass through our web server before arriving at the destination web page. If you consent, we track this click-through data to help us determine interest in particular topics and measure the effectiveness of our customer communications. In addition we may use pixel tags — tiny graphic images — to tell us what parts of our websites users have visited or to measure the effectiveness of searches users perform on our sites. Pixel tags also enable us to send messages in a format our users can read. And they tell us whether emails have been opened to assure that we are only sending messages that are of interest to our customers.
Our websites use cookie banners to get your consent to cookies and help you choose the cookies you want to allow. Also your Internet browser can be adjusted to treat cookies in different ways. Depending upon the type of browser you are using, you may be able to configure your browser so that: (i) you are prompted to accept or reject cookies on an individual basis or (ii) you may be able to prevent your browser from accepting any cookies at all. You can refer to the supplier or manufacturer of your web browser for specific details about cookie security. You should also understand that rejecting cookies might affect your ability to perform certain transactions on our websites and our ability to recognize your browser from one visit to the next.
AFS also uses invisible pixels, sometimes called web beacons, to count how many people visit certain web pages. Information collected from invisible pixels is used and reported in the aggregate and does not contain PII. AFS may use this information to improve programs and content.