What is a Cookie?

A cookie is a small amount of data that is sent to your Web browser from a Web server. This data is never "executed" as code, so it can't contain programs or viruses, and can't be longer than 4,000 characters. Cookies are generally used to help Web sites determine the state of your "client."

Let's say, for instance, that you go to a shopping Web site and purchase something.   Instead of checking out and paying for them immediately, you can continue browsing and a cookie can be "set" to indicate that you put something in your "shopping cart".  When you are ready to pay for all of your items, the server recalls the items you selected by looking at your cookie.

Our site uses a cookie simply to record your Session ID. We do this so that we may keep track of you as you move from screen to screen in the application process.  Once you have ended your session with us (by closing your browser window) the cookie is destroyed.

Why do we use Cookies?

We only use cookies to help identify you to our system. We "set a cookie" on your browser with your Session ID so that when you move from screen to screen, we know it's you and not your neighbor.

We do not distribute your cookie information to other organizations. No other sites outside of this domain can access this cookie and in fact this cookie is never even written to your disk drive.  The cookie is maintained by your browser in memory until the browser window is closed.

What about Security?

A cookie cannot be used to extract data from your system. When a cookie is set, your browser checks it for length, an expiration date, and the domain from which it came. This domain checking means that only we can access your cookie. We do not distribute your cookie or account information to other companies and do not include your password in your cookie.