Terms and Conditions

Cookies and other technologies employed by Expanse and its partners.

WHAT ARE COOKIES?

Cookies are pieces of data that websites you visit can set on your browser and device hard drive. The term may also be used to refer to other technologies that when employed in a certain manner may be able to track the online behavior of a web user.

Expanse and its partners use a number of technologies to support and improve the gaming experience we offer. Some of these technologies are used to identify users when they are on Expanse games and others may be used to track unique web users. This page was developed to describe the technologies we use, including how they work, our purposes for using them and your choices about their use.

TECHNOLOGY EXPANSE USES

Local Shared Objects (LSOs), which are also known as “flash cookies”, are used to:

• Identify devices so we can prevent and respond to fraud.
• Store game preferences so we can present the game experience you want. These preferences let us know things like whether you want music on or off or whether you want us to hide certain Expanse games.
• Store game assets (files) on your device so you can have faster load times. To learn more about LSOs and how to manage them visit Adobe.

Browser Cookies are used by Expanse primarily to:

• Identify specific users and track whether they are logged in (Authentication)
• Customize site content and remember site preferences.

There are a number of ways to manage browser cookies on your device. Most major browsers offer choices for whether and how you might receive future cookies and for deleting cookies already on your machine. Here are links for some of the larger browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Firefox
• Safari
• Internet Explorer

Html eTags is a technology that allows a web service to validate the temporary storage (cache) of web documents like html pages and images. They are used by Expanse or service providers working on Expanse’s behalf to optimize web caching for each user.

You may be able to remove eTags from your browser by following your browser instructions for clearing cache.

Beacons, pixel tags, clear gifs are all terms for similar technology that often works in the same way. Small strings of (software) code that track events such as when a web user visits a page or opens an email. They are used by Expanse to measure the effectiveness of our email campaigns, deliver more relevant content and manage advertising for Expanse’s games.

Generally you should be able manage beacons and pixel tags in the same way that you manage cookies – using your browser’s preferences (see browser links above). NOTE: There are several browser plugins available to web users who want to be better informed about and have more control over these technologies. Two popular ones are Ghostery and Abine. Other Companies’ Technology Expanse uses within its games, apps and sites.

ANALYTICS

Expanse analyzes traffic and other end user activity to improve the user experience. Expanse and companies working its behalf may use web server log files and tracking technologies to collect and analyze certain types of technical information, such as cookies, IP addresses, device type and usage information including time spent on particular pages or number of clicks.

One of our analytics partners is Google Analytics. Google Analytics uses browser cookies to generate statistics about visitors to websites, such as the number of page views or times of peak traffic. If you don’t want your anonymous browser data to be collected by Google Analytics when you visit sites that use Google Analytics, you can install an opt-out in your web browser.

ADS FOR EXPANSE GAMES (Expanse AS AN ADVERTISER)

Expanse works with web publishers and advertising networks (“Advertising Partners”) to deliver interest-based ads to users that have visited Expanse sites, played Expanse’s games or accessed Expanse’s content including videos (“Expanse Users”). This practice is also referred to as online behavioral advertising and here’s a brief description of how it works at Expanse.

Our Advertising Partners use software that recognizes pixels and cookies (identifiers) that are placed on the browsers of Expanse Users. When the ad software recognizes these identifiers, they deliver ads for Expanse’s products and services to Expanse Users who are on other web sites. Many of these ads for Expanse’s products will include an icon the ad recipient can click to learn more about the ad, why she received it and how to exercise choice. The icon displayed may range from the ad choices icon to a question mark (“?”) in the corner of the ad unit.

ADS FOR OTHER SITES AND SERVICES (EXPANSE AS A PUBLISHER)

As you know Expanse is a free service. One of the ways we generate revenue, which supports our ability to develop and publish fun games, is by publishing ads. Our advertising partners may serve targeted or personalized ads that are intended to be more relevant to you.

Tracking Pixels, Web Bugs, Pixel Tags, Browser Cookies – these are all references to technology that we permit others to set or read within our service. These technologies may be used to identify the interests and behavior of web users and target advertising to them based on those interests. They are also used to limit the number of times a user may see a particular ad or prevent certain ads from being shown at all.

When you play our mobile games we or our advertising partners may use one or more of several different identifiers for your device, including UDID and Mac Address, to target and deliver ads in our games. This means that your device identifier may be accessed by third party ad networks and used to (a) help manage the number and types of ads you see; (b) to track the source of installs related to ads seen in other developer apps, and; (c) identify the interests and behavior of users and target advertising to them based on those interests.

Identifiers Expanse uses IP Addresses are numbers assigned to the device you use to access the internet. Expanse, like many other web services, automatically collects IP Addresses from visitors to its games and sites. Expanse puts this information to several uses including providing security features and identifying general user locations, which may be used to target advertising.

Mobile Identifiers are numbers that identify devices or access points for devices that access Expanse’s mobile offerings. When you play our mobile games we may use one or more of several different identifiers for your device, including UDID and Mac Address, to identify you and your game account and to recognize players from one Expanse app to another. If you elect to participate in an SMS program we will use and may store your mobile phone number.

FACEBOOK AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS

In many instances users must be logged in to Facebook or other social networks to access our games. We typically collect and store the social network user ID and use it for several things including identifying specific players and accounts.

Expanse IDs

When you create an account with Expanse or establish a profile we will generate and assign a Expanse ID to your account.

NOTE: The social networks that offer Expanse games may use tracking technology of their own to recognize users and provide certain products and features. To learn more about Facebook’s practices visit Facebook.