Privacy, Security, and Advertising in Opera

Note:The following information only applies to Opera versions prior to 8.5. Opera version 8.5 no longer contains advertisment sponsorship. See our information page for more details.

Opera

Since Opera 5, Opera Software has added an advertising function to the browser. This decision was made so that we can offer the Opera browser for free - while still allowing us to receive some form of revenue (from the advertising) in order to help pay our bills and to continue to develop the renowned high-quality Opera products.

All of the code in the Opera browser was written by the developers of Opera Software ASA. This includes the code written to implement the specific banner-serving functionality in the browser. Much care was taken with this development so that user privacy and security would not be compromised. For more information, see the documentation on banner advertising implementation.

What Opera does

  • Opera communicates with the ad service in order to be able to retrieve advertising content. When you install Opera, your browser connects to a registration server and receives a unique identifying number. This ID is not personally identifying, and is only used to communicate with the ad-related service as the browser occasionally sends and receives banner-related information. Without being able to set a unique ID to your browser, it would not have been possible to sell ads in Opera. When Opera is connected to the internet, the advertising content is occasionally refreshed by accessing an ad server which defines the content to be retrieved and written to Opera's cache on the hard disk of your computer. This communication is done in several steps. What Opera returns to the servers is the demographic information (see below), the info about the banners that were served to your browser, and whether or not the banners were clicked upon. See ads for more details. When you are working offline with Opera, or when Opera is closed, there is no communication with the ad-related servers and no banners are retrieved. Banners that do display when you are working with Opera offline are shown from the stored disk cache.

What Opera does not do

  • Opera is not spyware: Opera does not collect and send information about you, nor your computer, nor which sites that you visit. Opera does not do anything other than what is specified in this document. The numbers of ads that you view and click are recorded, and sent along with the profile information that you have specified in Opera's preferences, and that is all.
  • The advertising component of Opera does not have communication with other parts of Opera. For example, it cannot access the info from your Opera Personal information preferences, nor can it read your history files.
  • Opera does load banners into the cache and communicates (in a benign manner) with the ad servers on occasion, and this activity is not visible to the user as it is happening. Apart from this stated activity, Opera does not utilize your Internet connection in the background.
  • Although it is possible for cookies to be set via an ad banner, these cookies can function no differently than those cookies served via any normal Web page. You even have the option to refuse them using Opera's cookie manager. See the Opera Privacy preferences and the Help for more information.
  • If you pay for and register your copy of Opera, this personal data is not shared by Opera Software with any other parties. Additionally, no connection is made between your ad-specific demographic information and your personally-identifying data.

Ads or no ads? Your options

  • If you have installed Opera and do not wish to view advertising content you can pay to obtain a license to use Opera which will no longer show ads.
  • Properly uninstalling the Opera program will remove all advertising content, including advertising content which has been cached.
  • Non-licensed users who do not wish to view advertising content are advised to decline installation of this software.

Advertising service (Service Transaction Provider/STP)

Opera Software has authorized the gathering and handling of the information transmitted by the Opera browser regarding advertising activity. This information is transmitted to their internet servers. The information is used to fetch the relevant ads and will provide the aggregated data to Opera Software. The aggregate data is the property of Opera Software. As stated previously, this information is not personally-identifying. Opera Software may aggregate statistical modelling of it's user base, and attempt to attract new advertisers. Our external advertising company may use the aggregate statistical information in order to attract new advertisers. For contact information, see below.

Contact information

Opera Software ASA

Opera Software ASA
Waldemar Thranesgt. 98
0175 Oslo
Norway

Advertising.com Inc.
1020 Hull Street
Ivory Building
Baltimore, Maryland 21230
USA

  • Privacy: Paul Clement
  • Ad sales: Don Kennedy

More information

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153-0043
東京都目黒区東山3-8-1
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