AB Tasty and data protection

USE OF AB TASTY SERVICES ON CUSTOMER WEBSITES / COOKIES

1. USE OF AB TASTY ON CUSTOMER WEBSITES
AB Tasty provides a remote service of an intangible nature (a solution known as Software as a Service, SaaS) for the purpose of carrying out marketing and statistical testing (known as A/B testing) on Internet, intranet and mobile sites and on mobile applications. AB Tasty therefore provides its Customers with an IT solution, via the Internet, that enables them to use their online systems to gather data relating to visitor statistics. This data is subsequently retrieved in aggregate and anonymous format via a web interface to which only AB Tasty's Customers have access. With the collected data, each Customer is able to improve the ergonomics of their website and the range of products or services offered. This service is therefore used by the senior management as by the marketing, editorial or technical departments of the companies or bodies having contracted the services of AB Tasty.

AB Tasty reminds its Users of their obligation to submit declarations to the competent administrations in regard to handling personal data and to comply with the necessary legal formalities in respect of the data collected by AB Tasty.
Users of the AB Tasty website undertake to inform visitors to their own websites of the fact that data handling is carried out by AB Tasty and of their entitlement to access, rectify, object to and delete data of a personal nature (IP and cookies) relating to them, as well as the Opt-out clause detailed in article 7.2.4 of this document.

A User could, for example, display the following message on their website: "In order to improve the quality of our service, we are using AB Tasty solutions to carry out A/B tests during your visit. If you do not wish to take part in these tests, please refer to the AB Tasty webpage on respect for privacy and follow the instructions provided". They could even include an Opt-out iframe on their own website.

2. DATA COLLECTED BY AB TASTY
When web users visit an AB Tasty Customer's website, AB Tasty collects statistical data relating to those visits. The data collected is connection data relating, for example, to the web browser used, the number of pages viewed, the number of visits, the visitor's pathway through a site, the time spent on a site or a page, adds-to-basket or basket abandonment, etc.
No primary personal data (last name, first name, telephone, address, etc.) is collected at the instigation of AB Tasty when providing its services using AB Tasty solutions.
Only two types of secondary data (i.e. data that could in some instances be traced back to an individual) are collected by the AB Tasty solutions, namely cookies and IP.

A. COOKIES AND UNIQUE USER
A "cookie" is a text file that logs information on a web user's browsing behaviour. It is controlled by the browser.

For web users, using cookies is the best way to personalise their browsing experience. They allow visitors to avoid being shown repeated advertising messages and questions, and also to save time on websites where login details are required.

For AB Tasty, using cookies ensures that the solution can function correctly and guarantees that the tests carried out are reliable by recognising a visitor as unique each time they visit (remembers that it is the same visitor without actually knowing who it is). In particular, the cookies log which version of the test the visitor is using, with the sole purpose of being able to direct them back to the same version during future visits in order not to cause behavioural differences and consequently lead to misleading results. Under no circumstances do these cookies store any information that identifies visitors.
All the results obtained are compiled and remain fully anonymous. The results focus on browsing and behaviour: number of visitors, visits, pages views and other information required to measure the performance of each webpage version during a test. They are used to improve the ergonomics and content of the sites visited.

The AB Tasty solution uses "first party" cookies, i.e. they are set by the URL of the website using the AB Tasty service.
In accordance with European Directive 2009/136/CE known as the "Telecoms Package" and with the recommendations of the CNIL, cookies are only set and read by the AB Tasty solution once the visitor has given their consent to the use of cookies by AB Tasty Customers; these Customers also use a management interface to modify the settings for storing cookies. It should also be noted that these cookies expire within a period of 13 months.

B. IP AND GEOLOCATION
As part of the process of collecting and processing data, AB Tasty uses the visitor's IP data for the sole purpose of geolocating their connection device (with regional precision, even at town level in some countries).
In order to safeguard privacy, AB Tasty also allows its Customers to keep the IP address anonymous: the last three digits of the IP address are erased immediately after collection and prior to any geolocation task.
The default setting applied for visitor IP addresses is anonymous IP addressing. In order to protect this data, AB Tasty keeps the IP addresses truncated in encrypted form and does not subsequently restate them via the Customer interface or any other locality in the company.

C. BLOCKING COOKIES
In all instances, web users are able to manage these cookies as they are stored within the browser settings on their computer. Web users are therefore able to read them, filter them, refuse them and remove them.
Refusing a cookie using web-browsing software:
Web users can choose to disable some or all cookies at any time. Web browser settings can also be configured as shown below to indicate which cookies are set on the computer and to prompt whether to allow or block them (on a case-by-case basis or always). However, the AB Tasty website will not function correctly if all cookies are disabled.
Internet Explorer: click the Tools button, then Internet Options. Select the general tab, and under Browsing history, click Settings. Then click View files and select which cookie(s) you want to disable. Then close the window containing the list of cookies and click OK twice to return to the Internet.
Firefox: click the Firefox menu icon, then the Tools button, and choose Options. In the next window, select Privacy and click Remove individual cookies. Select which cookies you want to disable and then remove them.

Safari: click the Settings button, then Preferences. In the next window, select Privacy/Security, and click Show Cookies. Select which cookies you want to disable and then click Remove or Remove All.
Chrome: click the Google Chrome menu icon, then Settings. At the bottom of the page, click Show advanced settings. Under Privacy, select Content settings. To disable cookies:
select Block sites from setting any data;
click All cookies and site data, then hover the mouse over the site that issued the cookie, and click the X in the right-hand corner, or click Remove all.

D. OPT-OUT CLAUSE
AB Tasty offers visitors the option to block the collection of information regarding their visits to the AB Tasty website and websites of AB Tasty Customers where AB Tasty collects data by means of its own cookie.
In order to enable this option, the visitor must first allow a cookie from the site in order to process their request to opt out of data collection. If they either refuse to accept this cookie or delete it at a later time, AB Tasty cannot then process their opt-out request and they will continue to receive cookies.
To enable this opt-out, visitors need to add the setting #abtastyoptout=1 to the end of the URL for the website on which they wish to block AB Tasty cookies.

For example, if they do not want cookies to be collected on AB Tasty webpages, visitors must access the page :

https://www.abtasty.com/#abtastyoptout=1

This option does not delete existing cookies but will prevent updates to them, so they will not collect any new data. It should be noted that if a visitor subsequently wipes their cookies, deletes the opt-out cookie, or changes their device or browser, they must then carry out the opt-out procedure again.

Privacy

When a contract is signed between AB Tasty and the customer, it is specified that AB Tasty processes data collected on users, but it is not the owner: we have no right to sell or divulge this data.

In this spirit of respect for privacy and security, each AB Tasty employee signs a non-disclosure agreement when joining the company.

As a sub-contractor in the eyes of the French data privacy and freedom law, AB Tasty is required to ensure data security and privacy, and can only act on the instruction of the person responsible for processing (the customer).

Cookies & local data storage

The AB Tasty solution requires 3 cookies to be placed in the browser of users subjected to tests.

In accordance with European Directive 2009/136/CE known as the "Telecoms Package" and with the recommendations of the CNIL, cookies are only set and read by the AB Tasty solution once the visitor has given their consent to the use of cookies by AB Tasty Customers. AB Tasty customers can also use a management interface to modify the settings for storing cookies. It should also be noted that these cookies expire within a period of 13 months.