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Your Privacy

When you visit any website it may use cookies and web beacons to store or retrieve information on your browser. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is typically used to make the website work as expected. The information does not usually directly identify you, but can provide a personalized browsing experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies and web beacons. Please click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our website and limit the services we can offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly necessary cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are typically set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. While you can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, some parts of the website will not work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

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Performance Cookies and Web Beacons

Performance cookies and web beacons allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve website performance. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors navigate around our website. All information these cookies and web beacons collect is aggregated and anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies and web beacons we will not know when you have visited our website and will not be able to monitor its performance.

Functional Cookies

Functional cookies enable our website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.

Marketing Cookies and Web Beacons

Marketing Cookies and web beacons may be set through our website by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other websites. They do not directly store personal information, but uniquely identify your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies and web beacons, you will experience less targeted advertising. Our website does not track users when they cross to third party websites, does not provide targeted advertising to them and therefore does not respond to "Do Not Track" signals.

Interactive Brokers Group Cookie Policy

What are Cookies and Web Beacons?

Cookies are pieces of data that a website transfers to a user's hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Web beacons are transparent pixel images that are used in collecting information about website usage, e-mail response and tracking. Generally, cookies may contain information about your Internet Protocol ("IP") addresses, the region or general location where your computer or device is accessing the internet, browser type, operating system and other usage information about the website or your usage of our services, including a history of the pages you view.

How We Use Cookies and Web Beacons

Interactive Brokers Group collects information from cookies and web beacons and stores it in an internal database. This information is retained in accordance with our Privacy Policy. This website uses the following cookies and web beacons:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can configure your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but certain areas of the site will not function properly. These cookies do not store any personal data.

Performance Cookies and Web Beacons

These cookies and web beacons allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information that these cookies and web beacons collect is aggregated and, therefore, anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies and web beacons our aggregated statistics will not have a record of your visit.

The website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses cookies to help analyse how you use this website. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purposes of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.

Functional Cookies

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not function properly.

Marketing Cookies and Web Beacons

These cookies and web beacons may be set throughout our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant advertisements on other sites. They do not store personal information that could identify you directly, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies and web beacons, you will experience less targeted advertising. The website does not track users when they cross to third party websites, does not provide targeted advertising to them and therefore does not respond to Do Not Track ("DNT") signals.

Managing Your Cookie Preferences

You have many choices with regards to the management of cookies on your computer. All major browsers allow you to block or delete cookies from your system. However, if you do decide to disable cookies you may not be able to access some areas of our website or the website may function incorrectly. To learn more about your ability to manage cookies and web beacons and how to disable them, please consult the privacy features in your browser or visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

This website may link through to third party websites which may also use cookies and web beacons over which we have no control. We recommend that you check the relevant third parties privacy policy for information about any cookies and web beacons that may be used.

Application Programming Interface (API) Highlights

Our proprietary APIs let you create an automated rule-based trading system that takes advantage of IB's high-speed order routing functionality and broad market depth.

The API allows you to trade all products that are supported through TWS, including stocks, options, futures, forex, and bonds. Designed for professional traders who desire a highly efficient algorithmic trading solution, our APIs provide many advantages when designing and implementing a programmed trading strategy, including:

Support for multiple programming languages including Java, Visual Basic for ActiveX, C++, and DDE for Excel. This makes your system more robust and reliable compared to those written in the simplistic, non-standard environment offered by other brokers.
Access to TWS order entry and order management features without the need for a dedicated server and the high overhead of a FIX system.

Sample applications to help get you started. Less experienced programmers can develop and hone their applications using Excel before migrating to a more robust language.
The ability to link your system to our TWS demo for testing.

Use the following table to see which API technology best fits your needs.

Access Technology	Programming Expertise	Performance	Code Platform	Time to Production	Has Sample Application
Java to Socket	Professional	Very robust and reliable; high performance.	Available for all platforms including Windows, Mac, UNIX/Linux.	High learning curve; longer time to production.	Yes
C++ to Socket	Professional	Very robust and reliable; high performance.	Sample code for Windows only. Socket protocol is platform independent.	High learning curve; longer time to production.	Yes
VB to ActiveX¹	Intermediate	Somewhat robust and reliable (ActiveX can lose events); fairly high performance.	Windows only.	Medium learning curve; moderate time to production.	Yes
DDE for Excel	Beginner	Limited; uses obsolete technologies; lower performance.	Windows only.	Small learning curve; rapid development time	Yes
POSIX C++	Professional	Very robust and reliable; high performance.	POSIX-compliant platforms (Linux, (Non-MFC Windows applications)	High learning curve; longer time to production.	Yes (Limited functionality)

Also included in IB's API software is an Active X for Excel sample client for those customers who want to take advantage of our Active X API in an easy-to-use spreadsheet interface.