Fellows' and users' Internet privacy is an important concern to The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh supports privacy of Internet data across the College website.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh website site does store personal information in the secure users' log-in area. In all other areas, The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh website merely logs the user's IP address which is automatically recognised by the College's web server.

We do use cookies for collecting user information from the website. We only collect information about fellows and users that is required for system administration of the web server. We do not collect personal information outside the log-in area.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh does not provide or release names, website addresses or email addresses of users to any third party without the fellows' or users' explicit permission.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh uses fellows' and users' data to automate signing in for fellows and users, who can elect to have their username and password "remembered" by the server - using Internet "cookie" technology. Fellows and users who use this service will be able to bypass the sign-in process on each visit to The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh website. Using automatic signing-in speeds up the signing-in process, directs content to fellows and users who are most likely to be interested in information about specific subject matters determines any advertisements to be seen by the fellow or user while using The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh website and measures website activity. Cookie technology helps The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh determine which features and services are important to their audiences so that we may know where to direct ongoing development.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh may occasionally advise users of new College activities or website features. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh occasionally may alert fellows or users electronically by e-mail to important surgical or medical information. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh may contact fellows or users who have un-subscribed from The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh to determine how we might have run our service to better meet their needs. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh or its agent may write or call in the process of performing market research about our services. Any research on behalf of a third party will be clearly identified as such. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh may offer services on a limited basis to demographically identified groups of users.

Definition of Terms

Browser

Used to locate and display web pages via a software application. The most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Cookie

This is a message given to a web browser by a web server. The message is then stored by the browser in a text file called cookie.txt. Each time the browser requests a page from the server, this message is sent back. A cookie's main objective is to identify users and personalise their visit by customising web pages for them (eg by welcoming them by name the next time they visit the same site). A site using cookies will usually invite you to provide personal information such as your name, e-mail address and interests.

IP (Internet Protocol)

All networks connected to the Internet speak IP, the technical standard that allows data to be transmitted between two devices. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is responsible for making sure messages get from one host to another and that the messages are understood.

IP Address

If you are connected to the Internet, you have an IP address. For example, it may look something like this: 116.234.134.1

Web Server

This delivers (serves up) web pages to your computer.