Privacy & Cookies

The University of Portsmouth is committed to ensuring visitors’ privacy whilst viewing University web pages. This Policy explains the types of data collected and how this information will be used.
Access Information.

Access Information

The server that hosts the Cibas website automatically logs every visit. This data contains some information about you; The Internet address of the computer you are using, the type of browser and operating system you are using and the Internet address of the web site from which you came from. It also contains some connection information such as the page or service you are requesting and the date and time of the request.

This information is used for the sole purpose of statistical information gathering and demographics relating to the University web sites, and enables us to determine general visitor patterns and pathways within our pages. This statistical data is then fed back into future design and usability modifications made to the University web pages.

Personal information

Submission forms and surveys

The University of Portsmouth may also collect personal information supplied through the use of web-based forms and surveys. This information will not be supplied to any third party, and will only be used for subsequent communications, if indicated by you, the user, at the time of submission. The data will be kept for no longer than two years.

In submitting your personal information online, you are agreeing that University staff may use your details for the sole purpose of conducting the business of the University. If at anytime you no longer wish to receive any information from the University of Portsmouth, please respond to any email and state that you wish to “unsubscribe”.

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of information that a website can put on your hard drive in order for it to remember something about you at a later time. The information is in the form of a text file, which will only be understood by the web site that initially set the cookie. Our web site uses cookies for certain applications, for example to remember your name when filling in online forms. A cookie is also used to anonymously track how visitors interact with this website, including where they came from and what they did. This is then used to ultimately provide a better online experience for all our audiences. You can stop your browser exchanging cookies with web servers at any time by changing the settings in your web browser. For more information about cookies visit http://www.aboutcookies.org/

Cookies used by this site:

• exp_last_visit: Sets the date/time that the user last visited the site, and is set for both guests and logged in users. If not set, is automatically set to 10 years ago. Affects guests and logged in users.
• exp_tracker: Tracks the last 5 pages viewed by the user, and is used primarily for redirection after logging in etc. Affects guests and logged in users.
• exp_last_activity: Every time the state is updated (the page reloaded) the last activity is set to the current date/time. Used to determine expiry. This is essential for logged in users, but not for guests - it is set for both.
• exp_sessionid: A uniquely generated ID that corresponds to the session_id column in the exp_session table. Used when cookie and session are set as the session type. Used only for logged in members.
• exp_uniqueid: Matches the unique_id field in the exp_members table. Randomly generated by the functions class at registration. Used only for logged in members.
• exp_userhash: The encrypted password of the currently logged in user. Set if you choose the cookies and session ID method for sessions (cs in your config.) Used only for logged in members.
• exp_anon: A flag set by the user to determine if they are listed in the online users.
• exp_expiration: Determines the length of the session for a logged in user. There are two options for this cookie: if the user has selected remember me then it is set to 1 year, and if not then it’s set to the datetime that the user logged in. Used only for logged in members.
• __utma: This cookie is typically written to the browser upon the first visit to your site from that web browser. If the cookie has been deleted by the browser operator, and the browser subsequently visits your site, a new __utma cookie is written with a different unique ID. This cookie is used to determine unique visitors to your site and it is updated with each page view. Additionally, this cookie is provided with a unique ID that Google Analytics uses to ensure both the validity and accessibility of the cookie as an extra security measure.
• __utmb: This cookie is used to establish and continue a user session with your site. When a user views a page on your site, the Google Analytics code attempts to update this cookie. If it does not find the cookie, a new one is written and a new session is established. Each time a user visits a different page on your site, this cookie is updated to expire in 30 minutes, thus continuing a single session for as long as user activity continues within 30-minute intervals. This cookie expires when a user pauses on a page on your site for longer than 30 minutes. You can modify the default length of a user session with the _setSessionCookieTimeout() method.
• __utmc: This cookie is no longer used by the ga.js tracking code to determine session status. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether or not to establish a new session for the user. For backwards compatibility purposes with sites still using the urchin.js tracking code, this cookie will continue to be written and will expire when the user exits the browser. However, if you are debugging your site tracking and you use the ga.js tracking code, you should not interpret the existence of this cookie in relation to a new or expired session.
• __utmz: This cookie stores the type of referral used by the visitor to reach your site, whether via a direct method, a referring link, a website search, or a campaign such as an ad or an email link. It is used to calculate search engine traffic, ad campaigns and page navigation within your own site. The cookie is updated with each page view to your site.

Third party cookies: We sometimes embed photos, videos or tweets from websites such as YouTube and twitter. Pages with this embedded content may present cookies from these websites. Similarly, when you use one of the share buttons on our website, a cookie may be set by the service you have chosen to share content through. We do not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the relevant third party website for more information about these.

Email

If you contact the University of Portsmouth by email, we keep a record of that correspondence for the purpose of conducting University business. We do not add any email addresses of those who communicate with the University through email to any mailing databases, nor do we pass this to any third party.