The following privacy policy applies only to our Web sites. This policy does not apply to any information obtained outside the Web sites, such as information provided to, or obtained by, writers of news articles and editorial columns.

Personal information you provide may be used by us to improve our services or to inform you about special coverage events, promotions, sales and other information. No personal information about you will be intentionally disclosed by the St. Petersburg Times to any third parties. We do share aggregate statistics about our users with our advertisers. For example, we may tell advertisers how many of our users are male or female or live in a certain zip code. These aggregate statistics do not contain any identifiable individual information.

Our Web sites use "cookies," an element of data sent and stored on your computer. We use cookies the following ways: in site administration, to complete a user's requested activity, to target specific information, to perform analysis, and for research and development.

We cannot control the privacy policies of sites we may link to in our editorial coverage or advertising sections. Therefore, if you provide personal information, including credit card information, to linked third-party sites, the information is stored on their servers and is governed by their privacy policies. We ask sites with which we have a business relationship to prominently show a link to their privacy policies. This allows you to determine how your personal information might be used by them.

If you participate in chat or post a comment in one of our forums or guest books, your comments will be public because those comments will be published to the Web. If you sign your comments or include any personal information in them, that information will become public. We do not edit users' comments and except in rare cases, we do not remove postings.

In some areas of our site, including our classified section, you might provide additional personal information such as an address, when transacting business. You might enter a credit card number to purchase a product or service. We have safeguards designed to prevent access to the personal information about you that is stored on our computers. We, like all Web site operators, can not safeguard against illegal activities undertaken by third parties.

If you have questions or concerns about your privacy while using this site, please email comments@sptimes.com or call 727-893-8377 Monday through Friday, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

This policy may be updated from time to time.

8-14-06