About cookies and how we use cookies
Cookies are used to store information on your computer and are a way to have your web browser "remember" specific bits of information about your previous visits to our site. They allow you to access secured information, conduct secured transactions, and take advantage of promotional opportunities. They are designed to help you have a better user experience within our website, and we use the information to improve our site content and site functionality.
Different websites store the information in cookies differently. Cookies allow us to identify your device, which in combination with other information we are collecting, may allow us to identify you personally. Any such information is stored in our protected systems and not in the cookie or on the Internet.
Cookies save you time as they help us to remember who you are and they help us to be more efficient. We can learn about what content is important to you and what is not. We can revise or remove web pages that are not of interest and focus our energies on content you want.
Types of cookies we use
We primarily use two types of cookies:
- Session cookies. These are temporary and expire when you leave our website or are inactive for a specified length of time. Session cookies allow the website to recognize you as you navigate between pages during a single browser session and allow you to use the website most efficiently.
- Persistent cookies. These store your preferences for a site, are stored on your computer, and are read by your browser each time you visit the website. They therefore enable the website to “recognize” you on your return, remember your preferences, and tailor services to you.
About spotlight tags
Spotlight tags analyze behavior of users who have previously clicked or viewed one of our digital advertisements. Spotlight tags only collect anonymous, non-personally identifiable information, and at no time do spotlight tags record user name, password, email address, or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
Spotlight activities are reported only if they are created by a user who meets the following three criteria:
- Clicks one of our ads and is redirected to our website, or views one of our ads and accesses our website later.
- Performs an activity on a page containing a spotlight tag.
- Performs this activity within 30 days of clicking and/or viewing one of our ads.
Internet applications
During some visits to our Digital Platforms we may collect Usage Information. This information includes page response times, download errors, what time you visited our website, how long you were on our website, if you've been to the website before, what web pages you visited, page interaction such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse overs, what type of browser you used to access our website and methods to browse away from the page. This information helps us identify ways to modify and improve our websites. Examples of information we collect and analyze include the Internet Protocol (IP) address or other unique identifier for the device you use to access the Internet, login email address, computer and connection information such as browser type, version, and time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions and operating systems. Principal considers the information collected through our Digital Platforms valuable. At this time, Principal does not respond to do-not-track signals or similar technologies sent by a browser setting. However, visitors will continue to have the ability to control cookie settings for Principal websites.
How you can control what data is collected through cookies
The information we collect may depend on your web browser settings. Most browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) automatically accept cookies, but you can usually alter the setting of your browser to prevent that; however, doing so may limit your access to certain sections of our website, including account information found behind the login.
If you do not wish to receive cookies, please refer to the help section of your browser to learn how to either block all cookies or receive a warning before a cookie is stored on your computer. In addition to altering the cookie settings on your browser, you can also install the Google Analytics Opt-out Add-on, which prevents Google Analytics from collecting information about your website visits.