Before you download Distance, we ask you to fill in a form giving your name, email address and country, as well as other optional information.  We use this information for two purposes:

• We compile summary statistics such as the number of users and the countries they come from, which we use when applying for funding to support Distance.  So, by filling in the form as accurately as possible, you are indirectly helping to fund the software.  You can see our latest compilation on the Who uses Distance? web page.  Apart from their use in obtaining funds for Distance, we think the results are interesting and hope you do too!
• If we were to find a truly critical bug in Distance, we would consider emailing everyone who had downloaded the software to tell them how to download a fixed version.  However, we value your privacy and have yet to resort to this option.  Rather, when we release an updated version, we update the Distance web site and post a message on the distance-sampling email list.

The information you give us when you fill in the registration form is held on a computer at the University of St Andrews and only used for the purposes set out above.  We will never pass this information to a third party.