Website privacy notice

This privacy policy outlines how the University of Birmingham collects, uses and protects information about you when you access the University’s website. This includes content displayed on those pages, data collected via forms, cookies, web logs and analytic software.

Where data is being collected beyond the scope of this privacy notice, you will be alerted and the relevant pages will refer to their own privacy notice.

The website contains links to third-party websites that may be of interest to users. We are not responsible for the content of these websites and have no control over any personal data collected on them.

We collect information about you when you visit our website, and when you interact with our pages.

We also collect information when you voluntarily complete contact forms, provide feedback and submit queries. This may include:

• Information that you provide to us: name, contact details, nationality, expected year of entry, academic qualifications, debit card payment details or other fields on our online forms;
• Information about the areas of the University you are interested in.

Any page requesting this personal information will provide details of how the information will be used and/or refer you to an appropriate privacy notice.

Cookies

Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information, which are downloaded to your device when you visit a website - if your browser preferences allow it.

We make use of cookies and analytics on our site. Cookie information includes:

• IP address;
• Areas of the site visited and how long you spend on each page;
• Areas of the site you click on;
• Information about your computer (the make and model), the browser you are using, your network location, time zone, mobile information the type of connection you are using.

For more information, please see our cookie policy.

Web Logs

Like almost all websites, we maintain log files on our web servers, which include your IP address and data relating to the requests you make on our website (for example: request size, date, and referrer). These logs are held for diagnostic purposes and to improve and maintain the security and resilience of the site. These files are only accessed by authorised members of staff, though they may be made available to the police on request.

The University is committed to ensuring the security of our website and any information you provide using the site. The University has procedures in place to help protect against loss, misuse and alteration of information.

The University will process your personal data for the following purposes:

• Improve the site by monitoring how you use it and ensure that we understand who uses our website;
• Analyse the popularity, impact and security of our site;
• Respond to any feedback you send to us, if you’ve asked us to;
• Provide you with tailored information and access to services and events;
• Personalising your online experience with us;
• Examining trends, or assisting us in the development of courses, events and research;
• Provide digital advertising about our activities and programmes to you based on areas of the site you have visited;
• Help answer your questions and solve any issues you have.

In addition to this, the University may need to process some data about you that is classed as ‘special category’ or sensitive personal data.  We will usually ask you for consent to do this. This data may include data about your ethnicity, or nationality which we use to identify appropriate webpages which may be of interest (e.g. international fees) and we also use it for reporting and monitoring purposes. The University will make sure that access to, and the sharing of, your special category personal data are controlled very carefully.

We consider the processing of your personal data for these purposes to be necessary for:

• the performance of our contractual obligations with you (e.g. to manage your studies, accommodation, your library access, your student experience and welfare while studying at Birmingham), including the delivery of services you have requested;
• compliance with a legal obligation (e.g. equal opportunities monitoring) or regulatory obligation (e.g. reporting to Government or governmental bodies);
• the performance of tasks we carry out in the public interest (e.g. teaching and research);
• the pursuit of the legitimate interests of the University or external organisations (e.g. to enable your access to external services).

We will only process your special category data with your explicit consent or if it is necessary:

• For the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
• Very occasionally, when it is needed to protect your or another person’s vital interests and you are not capable of giving your consent (for example, in an emergency);
• If it is in the substantial public interest;
• Archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes.

If we require your consent for any specific use of your personal data, we will collect it at the appropriate time, explaining why we are collecting the data and how we will use it, and you can withdraw this at any time.

Within the University, your data is shared only with those University staff who need access for the processing purposes identified.

Information may be shared with third parties who are under contract to act for us. In those cases, we ensure that those contracts are appropriate.

Sometimes we will embed content in our pages that we don’t control or operate, such as social media with Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. When you interact with these elements, which are marked clearly, you’ve not interacted with our website but the service embedded.

Details of the lifespan of each cookie is listed on our cookie policy and you can delete these at any time.

We use Google Analytics cookies to hold information about your visit to our site and our data is kept for 38 months before and is destroyed after.

Data collected through contact forms, feedback and queries will be held for only the period for which that data is being processed, not exceeding 7 years, unless stated otherwise. 

Details about your rights are set out on the website page ‘Data Protection – How the University Uses Your Data’.  This also explains how to ask any questions you may have about how your personal data is used, exercise any of your rights or complain about the way your data is being handled.

This webpage is effective from 25 May 2018. It is reviewed when necessary and at least annually. Any changes will be published here.