How we use cookies
What are cookies?
A "cookie" is a small piece of data that is created on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website or web application.
How we use cookies
This website uses cookies to:
- Remember information about you and your privacy preferences, so you don't have to repeatedly give it to us.
- Help us understand how our services are being used by analysing how people move around our website. This helps us monitor our site's health and determine how we can improve your experience.
- Provide functionality that enhances your experience like the Saved Courses basket.
Types of cookies
There are different types of cookies as classified below. Cookies are either:
- Session cookies: These cookies only exist as long as you are using the University website, and will be removed from your computer/device when your session expires or you close your browser.
- Persistent cookies: These are cookies which stay on your computer or device after your browser has been closed for an amount of time as specified by the cookie.
- First-party cookies: Set by the website you are visiting. Only that website can read them.
- Third-party cookies: Set by someone other than the website you are visiting. Some pages on the University website may contain content from third-party sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Flickr. Birmingham City University does not have control over these cookies.
Cookies can be further categorised as follows:
Necessary cookies
These cookies include storing your privacy preferences so we don't ask you for them repeatedly. They are essential to enable you to use the website effectively and do not hold any personally identifiable information.
| Cookie Name | Description |
|---|---|
| bcu-consent | This cookie is used to store your decision regarding privacy on our website. |
| bcu-consent-shown | This cookie is used to record when we notified you about our privacy and cookie policy changes on our website. |
| bcu-privacy | This cookie records specific privacy decisions you may have made either through updating your consent or using the 'manage privacy settings' page. |
| .AspNet.Cookies, ASP.NET_SessionId | These session cookies are used to enable core website functionality. It is automatically deleted a short time after leaving our website or when you close your browser. |
| __utma, __utmb, __utmc, __utmz, __atuvc | These analytical cookies allow us to count page visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. We use a service provided by Google Analytics, for more information about their cookie usage please see their privacy policy. |
Performance cookies
We use cookies from Google Analytics, Site Improve and Microsoft Application Insights to enable us to monitor and improve the performance of our website. We sometimes use third-parties to help us analyse how people are using our services.
| Cookie Name | Description |
|---|---|
| ai-session, ai-user | These cookies are set by Microsoft Application Insights and allow us to monitor server and application performance. |
| _ga, _gid, ai-se | These analytical cookies allow us to count page visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. We use a service provided by Google Analytics, for more information about their cookie usage please see their privacy policy. |
| siteimproveses | This monitoring cookie allows us to record website activity so we can analyse the performance of our site and identify improvements to our service. |
Functional cookies
We use cookies to remember information you provide and choices you make on our website so you can enjoy a customised user experience. An example of this is using the 'Save Course' tool to save a list of courses you are interested in. This information is stored on your computer or device in a persistent cookie and is typically anonymised.
| Cookie Name | Description |
|---|---|
| bcu-courses | This functional cookie is used to record courses you have saved and viewed. We also use it to record the last search you conducted. This cookie is essential to several features used within our website. |
Third-party cookies
These cookies are used by third-party providers and are served from their own domains. They include, but are not limited to, the following:
| Provider | Description |
|---|---|
| AddThis www.adthis.com |
These cookies are used by the third-party 'Add This' feature which allows you to share our pages with other social media websites. For information about their cookie usage please see their privacy policy. |
| Twitter www.twitter.com |
These cookies are used by third-party 'Twitter' features which allow us to import social media feeds into our website. For information about their cookie usage please see their privacy policy. |
| YouTube www.youtube.com |
These cookies are used by third-party 'YouTube' features which allow us to import videos and audio clips into our website. For information about their cookie usage please see their privacy policy. |
| Flickr www.flickr.com |
These cookies are used by third-party 'Flickr' features which allow us to import image galleries into our website. For information about their cookie usage please see their privacy policy. |
How to control cookies
If you want to check or change what types of cookies you accept, this can usually be altered within your browser settings. You can block cookies at any time by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our site.
More about cookies
You can modify your browser to notify you when you receive cookies, or you can refuse cookies altogether. You can also delete cookies that are currently on your device. Visit www.aboutcookies.org for more detailed information about managing cookies.