How Cookies are Used

Introduction

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s web sites and online services may use “cookies”. Cookies are small files containing letters and numbers that we may put on your computer, depending on your cookies preferences. Cookies enable you to use shopping baskets and allow us to personalize your experience on our sites, tell us which parts of our websites people have visited, help us measure the effectiveness of ads and web searches, and give us insights into user behavior so we can improve our communications, products and services.

If you want to disable cookies in your browser, check our browser-specific information to find out how to disable cookies.  If you are a user or visitor of our websites and online services in the European Economic Area and wish to change the cookie preferences you selected during the consent process, you may access a button located at the bottom left of your country’s webpages labelled “Cookie Preferences”.

Because cookies are used throughout our websites, disabling some of them may result in your being unable to use certain parts and features of the sites.

We use the following categories on our websites and other online services:

Required Cookies | Functional Cookies | Advertising Cookies

Category 1 — Required Cookies

  • Some cookies are required to enable you to navigate around the website and use its features. Without these cookies, we will not be able to provide a secure log-in, remember how far you are through an order, or provide certain other core features of our site, such as the shopping cart, the checkout process and electronic billing functionality.

Category 2 — Functional Cookies

  • We use various “functional cookies” to enhance your browsing experience and gather statistical data which we use to improve our websites. We use some of these cookies to collect information about how users of our websites interact with the sites. This data may be used to help optimize our websites and make them easier for you to navigate. These cookies are also used to let our affiliates know if you came to one of our websites from an affiliate and if your visit resulted in the use or purchase of a product or service from us, including details of the product or service purchased. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies you. All of the information that these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous.
  • We also use cookies to allow our websites to remember choices you make while browsing. For example, they may be used to keep track of what featured products or videos have been viewed so as to avoid repetition.
  • We also use cookies to allow us to test different design ideas for particular pages, such as our Homepage. We generally contract with independent measurement and research companies to perform these services for us and, when this is the case, these cookies may be set by a third-party company.

Category 3 — Advertising Cookies

  • We and our third-party partners may use advertising cookies to gather information about your activities on this site and other sites in order to provide you with advertising that we think may be relevant to you based upon your actions on our website. Disabling these types of cookies will not opt you out of being served ads. You will continue to receive generic ads.
 

Changing Cookie Settings

If you don’t want to receive cookies, you can modify your browser so that it notifies you when cookies are sent to it or you can refuse cookies altogether. You can also delete cookies that have already been set.

Because cookies are used throughout our websites, disabling them may prevent you from using certain parts or features of the site.

If you wish to restrict or block web browser cookies which are set on your device then you can do this through your browser settings; the Help function within your browser should tell you how, or refer to the information below. Alternatively, you may wish to visit www.aboutcookies.org, which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of desktop browsers. If you are in the European Economic Area you may change your cookie preferences by accessing the “Cookie Preferences” button located at the bottom left of our webpages.

We strive to provide a customized, personalized experience to website visitors and our sites do not currently respond to “do not track” signals from web browsers.

Internet Explorer | Firefox | Chrome | Safari

 

Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 6.x - Changing your Cookie Settings

  1. Within your browser, select Tools from the top menu bar, and then choose Internet Options. Click on the Privacy tab. Here, you can change settings for privacy control and elect how to accept cookies from sites you visit.
  2. For more control options, select the Advanced button. This will bring you to an area that enables you to set your browser's cookie acceptance level.

Internet Explorer 7.x - Changing your Cookie Settings

  1. Within your browser, select Tools from the top menu bar, and then choose Internet Options. Click on the Privacy tab. Here, you can change settings for privacy control and elect how to accept cookies from sites you visit.
  2. For more control options, select the Advanced button. This will bring you to an area that enables you to set your browser's cookie acceptance level.
 

Firefox

To check or change your settings:

  1. At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button (Tools menu in Windows XP) and then click Options
  2. Select the Privacy panel
  3. Set Firefox will: to Use custom settings for history.
  4. Check mark Accept cookies from sites to enable Cookies, and uncheck it to disable them.
    Note: If you are troubleshooting problems with cookies, make sure Accept third party cookies is also check marked. For more information, see Disabling third party cookies.
  5. Choose how long cookies are allowed to be stored:
    • Keep until: they expire: Each cookie will be removed when it reaches its expiration date, which is set by the site that sent the cookie
    • Keep until: I close Firefox: The cookies that are stored on your computer will be removed when Firefox is closed.
    • Keep until: ask me every time: Displays an alert every time a website tries to send a cookie, and asks you whether or not you want to store it.
  6. Click OK to close the Options window
 

Chrome

Adjust cookie permissions:

  1. Click the wrench icon on the browser toolbar. Description: tools menu
  2. Select Settings.
  3. Click Show advanced settings.
  4. In the "Privacy" section, click the Content settings button.
  5. In the "Cookies" section, you can change the following cookies settings:

Delete cookies:
Click All cookies and site data to open the Cookies and Other Data dialog.

  • To delete all cookies, click Remove all at the bottom of the dialog.
  • To delete a specific cookie, select the site that issued the cookie, then the cookie, and click Remove.

You can also choose to remove all cookies created during a specific time period, using the Clear Browsing Data dialog.

If you want Google Chrome to automatically delete cookies when you close all browser windows, select the "Clear cookies and other site data when I close my browser" checkbox in the Content Settings dialog. You can also make exceptions so that specific sites’ cookies are deleted whenever you close your browser.

Block cookies by default:

  • Block all cookies: Select: "Block sites from setting any data." Keep in mind that selecting this setting will prevent most sites that require you to sign in from working. You'll see in the address bar whenever a cookie has been blocked.
  • Block only third-party cookies: Select the "Ignore exceptions and block third-party cookies from being set" checkbox. Even if you've added a site to the Exceptions list and have chosen to allow its cookies, the site's third-party cookies won't be accepted if this checkbox is selected.

Allow cookies by default:

  • Make sure "Allow local data to be set" is selected to allow both first-party and third-party cookies. If you only want to accept first-party cookies, select the "Block all third-party cookies without exception" checkbox.
  • Make exceptions for cookies from specific websites or domains

Tocontrol how cookies should be handled for a few specific sites or domains, click Manage exceptions. To add a rule in the Cookie and Site Data Exceptions dialog that appears,follow these steps:

  1. Click the "Add a new exception pattern" field and enter the domain name for which you want to create an exception.
    • To create exceptions for an entire domain, insert [*.] before the domain name (e.g. [*.]google.com).
    • You can also specify an IP address, an IPv6 address, or a non-http URL.
  2. Use the menu to choose whether the site can set cookies. If you select Session only, its cookies are deleted every time you close your browser.

You can also edit or remove exceptions using this dialog.

 

Safari

  • If you want to disable cookies in the Safari web browser, go to Preferences and then to the Privacy pane and choose to block cookies. On your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, go to Settings, then Safari and then to the Cookies section.