Cookies and site usage

This privacy statement relates only to the information automatically collected from you resulting from your visit to websites controlled by the Queensland University of Technology.

The University’s Information Security Policy sets out our requirements for confidentiality, integrity and availability of information accessed through Information Technology facilities.

The University is committed to protecting your privacy and processing personal information fairly and lawfully in compliance with applicable legislation. The collection of personal information by the University is governed by the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld) (IP Act). The University is also considered to be a data controller for the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) in relation to the collection of personal information from individuals located in the EU, while conducting certain activities.

"Personal information" is defined broadly in the IP Act and GDPR as information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual. For further information about how the University manages personal information, please view the University’s Privacy Policy or visit our Privacy Webpage.

Links

This privacy statement does not apply to external websites that are linked to the University’s site. The University is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites.

When you link to another site, we recommend you read the privacy statement of that site to familiarise yourself with its privacy policy and practices.

Disclosure of site visit data

The University will not disclose any personal information collected as part of your site visit to a third party without your consent, unless we are required or authorised to do so by law. As part of an investigation into suspected unlawful or improper activity, a law enforcement agency or government agency may exercise its legal authority to inspect the web server's records (for example, in relation to hacking or abusive messages).

Use of Cookies

Internet cookies are small strings of text placed on users' hard drives during the data exchange that happens when a browser points to a website. Cookies allow a website to store information on a user's machine and retrieve it later. Cookies and other information collection technologies can only store information that is explicitly provided by the user or visitor in the first place, or information the website already knows about the user, such as their IP address.

QUT's website uses cookies for:

  • identifying unique visitors to the site for statistical purposes (that is, you will be allocated a visitor number which will be held in a cookie on your computer or device for a fixed period, such as 30 days. This cookie will also hold your IP address).
  • proving your identity when you attempt to access a restricted part of the QUT site (generally only available to QUT staff and/or students). You will be asked to provide your QUT Access username and password to prove your identity. This information is sent across the Internet securely using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL). A cookie may then be created in your computer or device's memory until you shut down your browser, though sometimes it may be stored on your computer or device. This cookie contains the following information that is available even if you have disabled cookies:
    • internal unique ID generated by QUT
    • your full name and email alias, which may be used for personalising the site as well as for emails sent from the site to you
    • your relationship with QUT (for instances, the course or unit you are enrolled in or the work areas with which you are currently associated). This is used to ensure you are authorised to access the information you have requested.

Site usage

When you visit QUT's website, we make a record of your visit using "single pixel gif" technology embedded in the code of each page. We log the following information, which is used for statistical purposes:

  • the IP address of the computer you are using or an IP that is dynamically allocated by your internet service provider
  • the date and time of your visit
  • the pages accessed and documents downloaded
  • the file size of the pages downloaded
  • the type of browser used and screen resolution
  • the referring page (ie last page visited before entering the QUT site).

Third party service providers

QUT uses Google Analytics to gather statistics about how its website is accessed. Google Analytics uses cookies to gather information for the purpose of providing statistical reporting. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers located outside of Australia. No personally identifying information is recorded or provided to Google. If you are logged in to the QUT website, information about your user account is not linked to data recorded by Google Analytics and is not provided to Google.

QUT uses third party marketing platforms, including Google Ads, Facebook, Sendpulse, Quantcast, Oath, and Twitter to market its products and services. These marketing platforms may serve our ads to you on their own websites, or on partner websites and apps. The marketing platforms we use allow us to advertise and communicate to you based on profiles developed according to your use of our websites and other partner websites, personal information you provide to us, and your response to the advertising messages we serve to you.

We may also use third party audience data from Google Analytics, Oath, and Quantcast, such as age, gender, behaviour, and interests, to provide advertising that's suited to your preferences. No personally identifiable information is recorded or provided to these third parties through this process, however information generated by the cookie about your use of our website will be transmitted to our vendors and may be stored on servers outside of Australia.

QUT contracts third party service providers to market its products and services. These third party providers are contracted to protect any personal data with the same level of protection as QUT. We advertise and communicate to you based on profiles developed according to your use of our websites, your response to the advertising messages we serve to you online, as well as the personal information you provide to us. Personal information is collected, stored and used according to QUT Privacy Policy.

The vendors we use have their own policies around cookie usage. We encourage you to check the policies on these sites.
Most browsers can be set to accept or reject cookies. You can choose to adjust your browser to reject cookies or to notify you when they are being used. Sometimes, rejecting cookies results in a loss of some website functionality. For instance, you may be unable to access a secure site, such as QUT Virtual. Alternatively, rejecting cookies may mean that you may have to establish your identity a number of times across the QUT site during a visit because the server cannot recheck your identity each time you request access to a restricted area. The information required to enable rechecking of your identity (e.g. your password) is encrypted for security prior to being added to the cookie.