Privacy is a perennial issue on the Web. Most Web sites provide a lengthy description of their privacy policy and try to assuage users that they do not give out personal details to third parties. However, for some, the temptation of a potentially lucrative source of revenue is too tempting not to include some get-out clause so they can pass your details onto interested buyers.

CO-STAR's privacy policy is simple:

Under no circumstances will CO-STAR release or sell any user data, including e-mail addresses, to any third party.

No lengthy small print. No conditional clauses. No hidden agenda.

Furthermore, CO-STAR does not keep any information about individual users, only an e-mail address for those that sign-up for our free online newsletter. We do ask subscribers to provide demographic data when they participate in "Ask CO-STAR" – but this is only to enable us to effectively answer the questions and to build a picture of who is using the site. This information is never stored individually – it is immediately aggregated into a statistical database and the e-mail address is stored separately.

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail us at: information@co-star.org.