Cookie Notice

What Is a Cookie

A cookie is a small text file placed on your computer by websites you visit. They are used to make websites work, help them function more efficiently, and provide information back to the owners of the site. Please see the table below, which describes the cookies we use and why.

How We Use Cookies

AM Best uses cookies to collect and record the following information about the users of our website:

  • Browser type and operating system being used by our visitors
  • Areas of the site visited
  • Date and time of access
  • Host or internet service provider (“ISP”) information
  • Identification of the referring site
  • Users' internet protocol (“IP”) address and platform type
  • Number of clicks

Classification of Cookies

Duration:

Session Cookies — These cookies are temporary and expire once you close your browser (or once your session ends).

Persistent Cookies — This category encompasses all cookies that remain on your hard drive until you erase them or your browser does, depending on the cookie’s expiration date.

Provenance:

First-party Cookies — First-party cookies are put on your device directly by the website you are visiting (our website). These cookies allow website owners to collect analytics data, remember language settings, and perform other useful functions that provide a good user experience.

Third-party Cookies — These cookies are placed on your device, not by the website you are visiting, but by a third party service provider or business partner. Selected AM Best website pages contain content and features from third-party service providers resulting in third-party cookies on our site. These third-party cookies / services are outside the control of our organization. Providers may at any time change their terms of service, purpose and use of cookies. Please be aware that AM Best is not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites. Please read the Privacy Statements of our third-party providers to ensure you are aware of your rights and choices. 

Purpose:

Necessary — These cookies allow us to offer you the best possible experience when accessing and navigating through our website and using its features. For example, these cookies let us recognize that you have created an account and have logged into that account to access content.

Social Media/Sharing — These cookies are used when you share information using a social media sharing button or a “like” button on our sites. These cookies allow you to interact more easily with social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and other / similar social media platforms. We do not control social media cookies and they do not allow us to gain access to your social media accounts.

Statistical/Analytical — These cookies enable us and third-party services to collect aggregated data for statistical purposes on how our visitors use the website. These cookies do not contain personal information such as names or email addresses and are used to help us improve user experience of the website.

Preference — These cookies let us operate the site in accordance with the choices you make. For example, we will recognize your username and remember how you customize the site during future visits.

Overview of Our Use of Cookies

First-party Cookies

Following is a list of AM Best website pages that contain first-party cookies.

ambest.com

Source: My Account

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
URatingIDUsed for tracking and functionality/preferences. (Necessary)HTTP1 year
ASP.NET_SessionIdPreserves the visitor's session state across page requests. (Necessary)HTTPSession

Third-party Cookies

Following is a list of AM Best website pages that contain third-party cookies.

consumers.ambest.com

Source: ShareThis

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
_sharethis_cookie_test_Determines whether the browser accepts cookies. (Necessary)HTTPSession
st_shares_#Used to track content sharing and provide data number. (Statistical/Analytical)HTMLPersistent
st_samesiteUsed to track visitor's website navigation preferences.  This is used for internal statistics and marketing. (Preference)HTTP30 days

Source: Twitter

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
_widgetsettingsSet by Twitter. Allows the visitor to share content from the website onto their Twitter profile. (Preference)HTMLPersistent
local_storage_support_testUsed in context with the browser's local-storage function. Allows the website to load faster by pre-loading certain procedures. (Necessary)HTMLPersistent

claimsresource.ambest.com

Source: AddThis

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
_at.hist.#Stores the usage history of the AddThis sharing widget. (Statistical/Analytical)HTMLPersistent
__atuvcUpdates the counter of a website's social sharing features. (Social Media/Sharing)HTTP1 year
__atuvsEnsures that the updated counter is displayed to the user if a page is shared with the social sharing service AddThis. (Social Media/Sharing)HTTP1 day
_at.cwwUsed by the social sharing platform AddThis. (Social Media/Sharing)HTMLPersistent
at-lojson-cache-#Used by the social sharing platform AddThis. (Social Media/Sharing)HTMLPersistent
at-randUsed by the social sharing platform AddThis. (Social Media/Sharing)HTMLPersistent
locUsed for geolocation, to help providers determine where users who share information with each other are geographically located (state level). (Social Media/Sharing)HTTP1 year
uvcDetects how often the social sharing service AddThis encounters the same user. (Social Media/Sharing)HTTP1 year
xtcRegisters the user's sharing of content via social media. (Social Media/Sharing)HTTP1 year

Source: SoundCloud

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
WIDGET::local::assignmentsUsed to implement, measure and improve SoundCloud's embedded content/service on the website. The collection data also includes visitors’ interactions with embedded content/services. This can be used for statistics or marketing purposes. (Social Media/Sharing)HTMLPersistent

Source: NUI Media

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
optinUsed by advertising platform to count stats like number of impressions and clicks on ads. (Statistical/Analytical)HTTP1 day

ambest.com

Source: Google Analytics

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
_gaRegisters a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. (Statistical/Analytical)HTTP2 years
_gatUsed to throttle request rate. (Statistical/Analytical)HTTP1 day
_gidRegisters a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how the visitor uses the website. (Statistical/Analytical)HTTP1 day
collectUsed to send data to Google Analytics about the visitor's device and behavior.  Tracks the visitor across devices and marketing channels. (Statistical/Analytical)PixelSession

news.ambest.com

Source: NUI Media

NameFunctionalityTypeDuration
optinUsed by advertising platform to count stats like number of impressions and clicks on ads. (Statistical/Analytical)HTTP1 day

Managing Cookies in Your Browser

Most browsers allow you to:

  • See what cookies you have and delete them on an individual basis
  • Block third-party cookies
  • Block cookies from particular sites
  • Block all cookies from being set
  • Delete all cookies when you close your browser

To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit https://www.aboutcookies.org or https://allaboutcookies.org.

Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:

To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer's website.

Opt-out of Google Analytics

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Additional Information

For additional information, see our Privacy Notice.

Last reviewed July 21, 2021