Cookies Policy

Mars cookie notice

In this notice you will find information on cookies, what we do with cookies, what cookies may be set when you visit a Mars website and how to reject or delete those cookies.

What are cookies?

“Cookies” are data files that a Web site sends to your computer while you are viewing the site. These data files include information that allows our site to remember important information that will make your use of the site more efficient and useful to you. Our sites use cookies for a variety of purposes. We use cookie technology and IP addresses to obtain non-personal information from online visitors, and also to provide registered visitors with the best possible personalized online experience.

How do we use cookies?

Visitors to our sites use different web browsers and different computers. To make your visits as easy as possible with the technology you use, we automatically keep track of the type of browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) and operating system (e.g., Windows, Apple) used by a visitor, and the domain name of the visitor's Internet service provider. We also track the total number of visitors to our site in an aggregate form to allow us to update and improve our site; personally identifiable information is not extracted in this process. This data tells us if more visitors prefer certain features or areas to others, which helps us keep our site fresh and interesting to the majority of our visitors. We also use cookies to help prevent children from entering certain areas or features intended only for adults or teens.

How do we use cookies to personalize your experience at our sites?

Cookie technology helps us deliver content tailored to a visitor’s interests, and allows us to make ordering products, entering and participating in sweepstakes and contests, and offering other functions at our site easier for our visitors. Sites that offer online shopping use cookies to remember and process the items in your shopping cart. Where permitted, we may associate personal information with a cookie file in such instances.

Different types of cookies used by us

The cookies used by us are based on the International Chamber of Commerce guide for cookie categories: Strictly Necessary, Performance, Functionality, and Targeting.

'Strictly Necessary' cookies let you move around the website and use essential features like secure areas, shopping baskets and online billing. These cookies don't gather any information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you've been on the internet. We use these Strictly Necessary cookies to

1. Remember things like information you've entered on order forms when you navigate to different pages in a single web browser session
2. Remember the goods and services you ordered when you get to the checkout page
3. identify you as being logged in to a Mars website
4. Make sure you connect to the right service on our website when we make any changes to the way the website works

Cookies we have defined as 'Strictly Necessary' cookies will NOT be used to

1. Gather information that could be used to advertise products or services to you
2. Remember your preferences or username beyond your current visit

The 'Strictly Necessary' cookies we use on our website are listed and explained in our Privacy Preference Centre, available via the ‘Cookie Settings’ tab on our websites.

'Performance' cookies collect information about how you use our website e.g. which pages you visit, and if you experience any errors. These cookies don't collect any information that could identify you – all the information collected is anonymous and is only used to help us improve how our website works, understand what interests our users and measure how effective our advertising is. We use performance cookies to

1. Provide statistics on how our website is used
2. See how effective our adverts are (we don't use this information to target adverts to you when you visit other websites)
3. Help us improve the website by measuring any errors that occur
4. Test different designs of our website

Cookies we have defined as 'Performance' cookies will NOT be used to

1. Gather information that could be used to advertise products or services to you on other websites
2. Remember your preferences or username beyond your current visit
3. Target adverts to you on any other website

The 'Performance' cookies we use on our website are listed and explained in our Privacy Preference Centre, available via the ‘Cookie Settings’ tab on our websites.

'Functional' cookies are used to provide services or to remember settings to improve your visit. We use 'Functionality' cookies to

1. Remember settings you've applied such as layout, text size, preferences and colours
2. Remember if we've already asked you if you want to fill in a survey
3. Show you when you're logged in to the website
4. Share information with partners to provide a service on our website. The information shared is only to be used to provide the service, product or function and not for any other purpose

Cookies defined as 'Functionality' will NOT be used to

1. Target you with adverts on other websites

The 'Functional' cookies we use on our website are listed and explained in our Privacy Preference Centre, available via the ‘Cookie Settings’ tab on our websites.

'Targeting' cookies are linked to services provided by third parties, such as 'Like' buttons and 'Share' buttons. The third party provides these services in return for recognising that you have visited our website. We use 'Targeting' cookies to

1. Link to social networks like Facebook, who may subsequently use information about your visit to target advertising to you on other websites
2. Provide advertising agencies with information on your visit so that they can present you with adverts that you may be interested in

The 'Targeting' cookies we use on our website are listed and explained in our Privacy Preference Centre, available via the ‘Cookie Settings’ tab on our websites

What are Web beacons and how do we use them?

Some of our Web pages and e-mail updates may contain electronic images called Web beacons, sometimes known as one pixel GIFs, clear GIFs or pixel tags. On Web sites, these allow us to count visitors who have viewed our pages. In promotional e-mail messages/newsletters they allow us to count how many subscribers have read them. Web beacons allow us to develop statistical information about the activities and features that most interest our consumers for the purpose of providing more personalized content. They are not used to access personally identifiable information without your consent.

What if you don´t want cookies?

1. Privacy Preference Centre
   For all other than Strictly Necessary cookies, you can manage your consent in our Privacy Preference Centre, available via the ‘Cookie Settings’ tab on our websites. However, not consenting to some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
2. Your browser settings
   In addition, if you don't want cookies, you can set your computer to warn you each time a cookie is being sent or turn off all cookies through your browser (e.g., Internet Explorer or Firefox). Check your browser HELP menu to learn the correct way to change or update your cookies.

Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers. You will also find details on how to delete cookies from your computer as well as more general information about cookies. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual. Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of Mars websites.

Last reviewed: August 2020