Cookies Policy

This page should be read as an extension of the University′s Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used to make websites work or work more efficiently. For example, they may be required to keep you logged in to a service, or to remember your choice of accessibility settings. A cookie will typically contain a record of the web site which issued it, its own name, and a value which is often a randomly generated unique number.

The cookie will also have a "lifetime", which tells your browser when to delete it. Cookies can be "session cookies" or "persistent cookies". Session cookies are temporary and should be deleted by your browser when you quit. Persistent cookies can remain on your hard drive indefinitely (how long will depend on the lifetime of the specific cookie) and may continue to be accessed via your browser.

Can I turn off cookies?

You can manually disable cookies on your computer, or delete existing cookies. You may also be able to view the cookies already in your system. This will depend on your browser, please consult the appropriate web site for your browser.

However, please note that cookies are essential to the effective functioning of some of the services we offer online. If you disable cookies, a number of important functions and services will be unavailable to you and our websites may not operate correctly in your browser.

Which type of cookie does UWE use?

Where UWE uses cookies on web sites linking to this cookie policy or our privacy policy they will be session cookies with the following exceptions: Blackboard; Web Metrics; and where part of the UWE website other than the above has a particular need to set a persistent cookie and you are provided an opportunity to refuse it.

Cookie Register

A list of cookies used by UWE can be found on the following pages:

• Cookies used on our public websites.
• Cookies used when you log in.
• Third-party cookies.

ICC Categories

For those familiar with the ICC categories of cookies, we use:

• Category 1, "Strictly Necessary Cookies" to maintain service levels across servers ("load balancing"), to maintain security of access where the user has logged in, and where a programming language issues cookies as a fundamental requirement of delivery.
• Category 2, "Performance Cookies" for anonymous analysis of our web pages, to help us understand how people use them and how we can improve them. This analysis is always anonymous.
• Category 3 "Functionality Cookies" to deliver specific requested functionality, such as display options to support accessibility. Your consent is sought before these cookies are issued.

UWE does not use Category 4, "Targeting Cookies" unless you are advised on the page.

UWE cookies and personal information

We do not use cookies to store personal information about you, and will make no attempt to identify you through use of cookies, except on UWE systems which require the user to "log in" by entering a username and/or password.

Blackboard

Blackboard is the University′s Virtual Learning Environment. You can only access Blackboard if you have a UWE userID and password. At this University, Blackboard uses persistent cookies when you access the service, but deletes them when you log out. All users are encouraged to log out when they have finished using any system to which they have logged in. In Blackboard, the use of cookies is necessary to identify individual users and thus to ensure that their personal data within the system is handled in a secure manner, i.e. by ensuring that only they can access materials associated with their user profile. As such storage is strictly necessary for the provision of an information society service in the context of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations (See further Regulation 6(4)(b)).

Web metrics

To maintain and improve the quality of our website we use the Digital Analytix web metrics service provided by comScore. It is necessary for this service to use cookies to measure how our audience are using our website and these cookies may be persistent cookies. Cookies issued as part of the Digital Analytix web metrics service are covered by the Digital Analytix Privacy Policy> which states that the cookies only contain a unique number and therefore contain no personal data.

What happens if I switch off UWE cookies?

Cookies are essential to the effective functioning of our websites. If you disable cookies, a number of important functions and services will be unavailable to you and our websites will not operate correctly in your browser.