This Policy explains how Sotheby’s Inc, together with the wider Sotheby’s group of companies (see here) (“Sotheby’s”, “we” or “our”) use cookies and other similar technologies in the context of the Sotheby’s Sealed website (the “Services”). For information about how we process collect and process personal data more generally, please see our privacy policy at https://sealed.sothebys.com/privacy-policy.
We use the term 'cookies' to refer to all technologies which store and access information on the device that you use to access the Services, such as your computer, tablet or mobile phone. For example, we use http cookies, which are small data files (typically made up of numbers and letters) that are downloaded when you access the Services and allow us to recognise your device. The emails that we send you may contain small, transparent image files or lines of code that help record how you interact with the Services We also use technology like pixel tags and software kits embedded in our apps (more info).
Cookies help us to improve our Services and to deliver a better and more personalized service, for instance by storing information about your preferences and allowing us to recognize whether you have visited our Services before or whether you are a new visitor.
There are different types of cookies, for example:
Cookies served directly by Sotheby’s ('first party cookies') and cookies served on our behalf, for example by advertisers and data analytics companies ('third party cookies')
Cookies which endure for different periods of time, including those that only last only as long as your browser is open (referred to as 'session cookies') These are deleted automatically once you close your browser. Other cookies are 'permanent cookies', meaning that they survive after your browser is closed. They are a type of cookie in which the information stored in the computer or device may be accessed and processed over a period of time defined by the owner of the cookie - timeframes can vary between a few minutes to several years.
Cookies can be used for different purposes, including:
Strictly Necessary Cookies: These cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around the Services and use their features, such as accessing secure areas of the Services. Without these cookies, services like enabling appropriate content based your type of device cannot be provided.
Performance Cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors use the Services, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and is only used to improve how the Services work.
Functional Cookies: These cookies allow the Services to remember choices you make (such as your language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.
Social Media Cookies: These cookies are used when you share information using a social media sharing button on the Services. The social network will record that you have done this. This information may be linked to targeting/advertising activities.
Targeting/Advertising Cookies: These cookies are used to deliver advertising more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as help measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaigns. They are usually placed by advertising networks with our permission. They remember that you have visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers.
The following table sets out the different categories of cookies that the Services use and why we use them.
| Type of cookie | Source | What these cookies do | Cookie Name | Duration |
Strictly Necessary Cookies | Sotheby’s | This cookie is set by the Services using certain versions of the cookie law compliance solution from OneTrust. It is set after visitors have seen a cookie information notice and in some cases only when they actively close the notice down. It enables the Services not to show the message more than once to a user. | OptanonAlertBoxClosed | 1 year |
Strictly Necessary Cookies | Sotheby’s | This cookie is set by the cookie compliance solution from OneTrust. It stores information about the categories of cookies the Service uses and whether visitors have given or withdrawn consent for the use of each category. This enables us to prevent cookies in each category from being set in the users browser, when consent is not given. The cookie has a normal lifespan of one year, so that returning visitors to the Service will have their preferences remembered. | OptanonConsent | 1 year |
Performance Cookies | Sotheby’s | This cookie is used to speed up site content delivery using Akamai's acceleration and caching features. | AKA_A2 | Session Cookie |
Performance Cookies | Sotheby’s | This cookie is used for analytics and helps count how many people visit the Services by tracking if you have visited before. | ajs_anonymous_id | 1 year |
Functional Cookies | Sotheby’s | From Segment Analytics; this cookie helps to figure out a top-level domain for a user. | __tld__ | Session Cookie |
Targeting Cookies | Sotheby’s | This cookie is used by analytics tools like Segment to uniquely identify Service visitors, helping in tracking user interactions. | ajs_user_id | Session Cookie |
In addition, our cookie consent tool provides information on the different categories of cookies that our Services use and why we use them. You can amend your cookie preferences at any time on the “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” page of our website, which is accessible from the footer of our website. If you have any questions about our use of cookies you can contact us at the address below.
In some countries you have right to choose whether or not to accept cookies. However, they are an important part of how our Services work, so you should be aware that if you choose to refuse or remove cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of the Services. If you do not want our Services to use cookies, please use our cookie consent tool to opt-out. Alternatively you can opt-out using your browser settings following the instructions set out below.
You may manage your data collection preferences on the website here. Please note that this preferences manager may not be compatible with all browsers.
Most browsers accept cookies by default. You may be able to change the settings to have your browser refuse certain cookies or notify you before accepting cookies. You may also choose to withdraw your consent to our use of cookies at any time and delete cookies that have already been set. To do so, please follow the instructions provided by your browser which are usually located within the "Help", "Tools" or "Edit" facility. The website www.allaboutcookies.org contains comprehensive information about the process of opting out on different browsers.
If you are in the EU and would like to opt out of third party cookies relating to behavioural advertising, please go to www.youronlinechoices.eu. Opting out does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the company or companies from which you opted out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your web preferences and usage patterns.
In the US, the Network Advertising Initiative offers a means to opt out of a number of advertising cookies. Please visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices to learn more.
To interest-based advertising on your mobile device, you can review and adjust the settings provided by your device manufacturer, such as “Limit Ad Tracking” for iOS or “Opt-out of interest-based ads” for Android.
The web team is responsible for cookies at Sotheby’s. If you have queries about our use of cookies, you can contact them at enquiries@sothebys.com.