This policy explains what types of personal information will be gathered when you visit the Department of Politics's website, and how this information will be used. Please note that this policy applies to the Department's main web pages (i.e. those in www.politics.ox.ac.uk).

If you follow a link to any other website, please check their policies before you submit any personal information to those websites.

Information collected

On some parts of the websites, you may be asked to provide some limited personal information in order to enable the provision of certain services (e.g. prospectus ordering, registering with a society, applying for a vacancy etc). The Department may store this information manually or electronically. By supplying this information you are consenting to the Department holding and using it for the purposes for which it was provided. Information provided will be kept for as long as is necessary to fulfill that purpose.

We may also collect information about your computer, including where available your IP address, operating system and browser type, for system administration and to report aggregate information to our webmasters. This is statistical data about our users' browsing actions and patterns which does not identify any individual and allows us to ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer.

How the information collected is used

Personal information provided to the Department by you will only be used for the purposes stated when the information is requested. Personal information will not be sold to third parties, or provided to direct marketing companies or other such organisations without your permission. Personal information collected and/or processed by the Department is held in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Demographical and statistical information about user behaviour may be collected and used to analyse the popularity and effectiveness of the Department's websites. Any disclosure of this information will be in aggregate form and will not identify individual users.

How we store information collected

Information which you provide to us will ordinarily be stored on our secure servers. However, we do work with third party contractors, some of whom host and operate certain features of the website. Accordingly, information that we collect from you may be collected in or transferred to a destination outside the European Economic Area ("EEA"). That information may be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our contractors. By submitting personal information, you agree to this transfer, storing and processing. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We may disclose your personal information to third parties if we are under a duty to disclose or share such information in order to comply with any legal obligation or to protect the rights, property or safety of the Department, University, its members or others.

How we use "cookies"

Most of our web pages use "cookies". A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we place on your computer or mobile device if you agree. These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of our website, which helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allow us to improve our website. Further details can be found in our Cookie Statement below.

  • Cookie statement

    This statement explains how we use cookies on the DPIR's website (i.e. those in www.politics.ox.ac.uk).

    For information about what types of personal information will be gathered when you visit the website, and how this information will be used, please see our full privacy policy.

    How we use cookies

    Most of our web pages use "cookies". A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we place on your computer or mobile device if you agree. These cookies allow us to distinguish you from other users of our website, which helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our websites and also allow us to improve our websites.

    Types of cookies we use

    We use the following types of cookies:

    • strictly necessary cookies – these are essential in order to enable you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website. Without these cookies the services you have asked for, like online application forms, cannot be provided;
    • performance cookies – these cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies do not collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. It is only used to improve how the website works; and
    • functionality cookies – these cookies allow the website to remember choices you make and provide enhanced, more personal features. For instance, these cookies can be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of the web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for, such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

    Specific cookies we use

    Cookies may be set either by the Department's website ("first party cookies"), or by a third party website ("third party cookies").

    We also make use of Google Analytics, which sets cookies to collect information about how visitors use our site. This information is collected in an anonymous form. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information such as the number of visitors to the website, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited.

    Further information

    Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.

    To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

    Please consult the following webpages for an overview of Google Analytics privacy.

    Changes to our Cookie Statement

    Any changes we may make to our Cookie Statement in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you.

    Contact

    Any queries or concerns about privacy on these websites should be sent by email to comms@politics.ox.ac.uk or addressed to the Communications Team, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, Manor Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ.

Access to information

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to access information held about you. For further information about this right and how to exercise it, please see the University’s Policy on Data Protection.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Any changes we may make to our Privacy Policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email.

Contact

Any queries or concerns about privacy on DPIR's websites should be sent by email to comms@politics.ox.ac.uk or addressed to the Communications Team, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, Manor Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ.