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For most of our readers, most of this article is a "no-brainer". You set your browser to accept cookies years ago, and you transact business on the internet. While you are aware on some level that cookies are being exchanged between your browser and the page servers, cookies are just another necessary and low-risk part of the "wired" revolution.

This site uses cookies on "interactive" pages as of February, 2001. Where are they now, or where will they be used? No accessible page on this uses cookies as of January 31, 2001. The stories, articles, poems, essays and other text collections you're used to seeing on this site will not use cookies and never have.

If you'd like to find out more about how this may affect your privileges on new interactive features forthcoming at summitlake.com, you can read more than you ever wanted to know about "cookies" right here.

"Cookies" are everywhere; they've been around on the web for years. It's almost impossible to transact business on the world wide web without them. And yet they remain a concern for many as a privacy issue, and with good reason. Whether you are new to the web, or a seasoned veteran, please take a few moments to read our policy concerning usage of "cookies" on this site.

This site will use "cookies" to control content update in new user-interactive areas of the website. This notice will tell you: (a) where cookies might be used, (b) where they will not be used, and (c) how you can know whether they are being used at all. The balance of this notice will then present the rationale for using cookies, explain what they are, and post the summitlake.com policy on the use of cookies.

1) "Interactive" areas on this site are defined as web content where the user may be invited to update site content created either by themselves or others. This situation may occur whenever you see a web page that contains a form, or a database form. Interactive areas may be subject to content control by the site administrator, via the popular mechanisms of "cookies" or user id's and passwords, or any combination of either.

2) "Passive" areas are all other pages, graphics, icons, text, scripts, counters, indexes or programs where the user has no means of modifying, changing, inserting or deleting content. In other words, "passive" areas are any area that is not interactive. Examples include your typical "web page", or a photo image catalog whether the images are served by the HTML page, or by a CGI program. E-mail sent from a "mail-to" URL or icon on a web page is another example of passive activity. "Cookies" will not be offered on passive pages or areas.

3) Interactive pages or areas which only offer an option of "browse" or "search" are defined as passive. Examples include database privileges which have been restricted to "search", without offering update options to the user. "Cookies" will not be offered on passive pages or areas.

4) Interactive forms, pages or areas which may (at our discretion) offer update privileges, including any form which may post content viewable by the general public, are all subject to control by means of cookies, or a user name or id and password, or some combination of both.

5) Interactive forms, pages or areas which may (at our discretion) offer update privileges to some users, but not to others, will only offer or check for cookies for (a) unrecognized new users, (b) users who have already accepted them, or (c) users who automatically or manually accept them. However, there are no means of knowing which unrecognized users may previously have rejected cookies. All we can tell for sure is whether or not you have a cookie for the form being used. The form or database form will attempt to detect or offer a cookie every time the page is visited, but we will not badger you with intrusive reminders or dialog boxes.

6) You may set your browser to (a) automatically accept cookies, (b) automatically reject them, or (c) notify you each and every time a page requests a cookie from your browser. It is your responsibility to know how you have configured your browser to handle cookies; see the "Help" tab on your browser for additional information on this important feature.

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