In this Policy the following words shall have the following meanings:

"RA" means the The Railways Archive;
"the Site" means the The Railways Archive web site having address of www.railwaysarchive.co.uk;
"User" or "Users" means that or those persons or organizations that either view or access the site, and/or who submit documents for publication in the site.

 
1. Introduction
This policy covers the RA’s use of personal information that the RA collects when you use the Site. The policy also gives you information about cookies; RA's use of cookies; and how you may reject such cookies.

From time to time, you will be asked to submit personal information about yourself (e.g. name and email address) in order to receive or use services on our website. Such services include newsletters.

By entering your details in the fields requested, you enable the RA and its service providers to provide you with the services you select. Whenever you provide such personal information, we will treat that information in accordance with this policy. When using your personal informaiton the RA will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current Internet best practice.

 
2. Visitor Information
During the course of any visit to the RA, the pages you see, along with a short text file called a 'cookie', are downloaded to your computer. Many websites do this, because cookies enable website publishers to do useful things like find out whether the computer (and probably its user) has visited the website before. This is done on a repeat visit by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on the last visit.

Information supplied by cookies is used to provide you with a better online user experience. For example: when you log on to the Site, a cookie is created with your user name; this is then used through the site to check that you are still logged on.

Our ISP, UK Web Solutions, gathers non-personal information regarding the visitors to our website on our behalf using log file data. The RA uses this type of information, as with that obtained from other cookies used on the site, to help it improve the services to its users.

 
3. What is a cookie?
A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes an anonymous unique identifier that is sent to your browser from a website's computer and stored on your computer's hard drive. Each website can send its own cookie to your browser if your browser's preferences allow it, but (to protect your privacy) your browser only permits a web site to access the cookies it has already sent to you, not the cookies sent to you by other sites.

Many sites do this whenever a user visits their website in order to track online traffic flows.

Cookies record information about your online preferences. Users have the opportunity to set their computers to accept all cookies, to notify them when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The last of these, of course, means that certain personalised services cannot then be provided to that user user and accordingly you may not be able to take full advantage of all of the RA features. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.

If you have set your computer to reject cookies you can still browse the RA anonymously until such time as you wish to register for RA services. For further information on cookies please visit www.aboutcookies.org.

 
4. Use and storage of your personal information
When you supply any personal information to the RA (e.g. for an RA membership) we have legal obligations towards you in the way we use those data. We must collect the information fairly, that is, we must explain how we will use it (see the notices on particular webpages that let you know why we are requesting the information) and tell you if we want to pass the information on to anyone else.

Any information you provide to the RA will only be used within the RA. Your information will be disclosed only where we are obliged or permitted by law. Also, if you post or send offensive, inappropriate or objectionable content anywhere on or to the RA or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on the RA, the RA can use whatever information that is available to it about you to stop such behaviour. This may involve informing relevant third parties such as your employer, school e-mail/Internet provider and law enforcement agencies about the content and your behaviour.

We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as you use the service you have requested, and remove it in the event that the purpose has been met, or, in the case of RA membership you no longer wish to continue your registration as an RA member. We will ensure that all personal information supplied is held securely, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

We will not contact you for promotional purposes, such as notifying you of improvements to the service or new services on the RA unless you specifically agree to be contacted for such purposes at the time you submit your information on the site, or at a later time if you sign up specifically to receive such promotional information.

 
5. How to find and control your cookies
If you're using Netscape 6.0:
On your Task Bar, click:

1. Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Click on Cookies

If you're using Internet Explorer 6.0:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Privacy Tab
4. Click on Custom Level
5. Click on the 'Advanced' button
6. Check the 'override automatic cookie handing' box and select Accept, Block or Prompt for action as appropriate.

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0 or 5.5:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Security tab
4. Click on Custom Level
5. Scroll down to the sixth option to see how cookies are handled by IE5 and change to Accept, Disable, or Prompt for action as appropriate.

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0:

1. Choose View, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the Advanced tab
4. Scroll down to the yellow exclamation icon under Security and choose one of the three options to regulate your use of cookies.

If you're using Internet Explorer 3.0:
You can View, Options, Advanced, then click on the button that says Warn before Accepting Cookies.

If you're using Netscape Communicator 4.0:
On your Task Bar, click:

1. Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Set your options in the box that says Cookies.

 
6. How do you know which of the sites you've visited use cookies?
If you're using Netscape 6.0:
On your Task Bar, click:

1. Edit, then
2. Preferences
3. Click on Advanced
4. Click on Cookies
5. Click the View Cookies button

If you're using Internet Explorer 5.0 or 6.0:

1. Choose Tools, then
2. Internet Options
3. Click the General tab
4. Click Settings
5. View Files

If you're using Internet Explorer 4.0:
On your Task Bar, click:

1. View, then
2. Internet Options
3. Under the tab General (the default tab) click
4. Settings
5. View Files.

If you're using Internet Explorer 3.0:
On your Task Bar, click:

1. View
2. Options
3. Advanced
4. View Files.

If you're using Netscape Communicator 4.0:
Netscape bundles all cookies into one file on your hard drive. You'll need to find the file, which it calls Cookie.txt on Windows machines.

 
7. How to see your cookie code
Just click on a cookie to open it. You'll see a short string of text and numbers. The numbers are your identification card, which can only be seen by the server that gave you the cookie.