Cookies Policy

The University of Sunderland (the ‘University’) wishes to be open in the way we use cookies and help you make informed choices about the information you provide to us and third parties when you visit our website.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small, often encrypted, text files, which are stored on your computer when you visit some websites. They are used to remember useful information which allows certain functionality within the website to work, for example remembering where you have reached within an order process, or if you've logged in to a site. Cookies can't harm your computer.

How does the University use cookies?

We use different types of cookies for different things, such as:

• Analysing how you use the Sunderland website
• Giving you a better, more personalised experience
• Recognising when you’ve signed in
• Using Geo location for users outside the UK to provide entry requirements relevant to their country

We use the following types of cookies:

Strictly necessary cookies 

These are essential in to enable you to move around the websites and use their features. Without these cookies the services you have asked for, such as registering for an account, cannot be provided.

Functionality cookies

These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make and provide more personal features. For instance, a functional cookie can be used to remember the volume level you prefer to use when watching videos on our websites. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

Performance cookies

These cookies collect information about how visitors use a website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often. We use this information to improve our websites and to aid us in investigating problems raised by visitors.

You can opt out of providing us with this information if you wish, with no impact on your experience of our website.

Cookie Preferences

Control your Cookie preferences.

Advertising or Targeting cookies

We use advertising related cookies on our site.

We use 'Advertising' cookies on www.sunderland.ac.uk to:

• Link to social networks like Facebook, who may subsequently use information about your visit to target advertising to you on other websites.
• Used to identify that you have visited the Sunderland University website, so that we can show you relevant adverts.
• Provide advertising networks with information on your visit so that they can present you with adverts that you may be interested in.

These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests.They collect information about your browsing habits. Targeting cookies are linked to services provided by third parties, such as 'like' and 'share' buttons and advertisements.

Google advertising services

Google DoubleClick Uses cookie IDs to show adverts relevant to a visitors interest and browsing behaviour. They are also used to limit the number of times someone sees an advert, as well as helping to measure the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns. They remember that a browser visited a website and this information is shared with other organisations such as advertisers.

Opt-out of Google Ad Services

Bing

This code generates statistics from your searches and other online activity associated with your Microsoft account to show you ads that are more personalised.

Facebook

Parts of this website use Facebook cookies and pixels. Pixels are small blocks of code on webpages that do things like allow another server to measure viewing of a webpage and often are used in connection with cookies. Cookies and pixels are used to understand and deliver ads and make them more relevant to you. The user ID collected relates to your Facebook account and the data collected is used to advertise across Facebook, Messenger and Instagram. These pixels are also used to attribute website conversions back to advertising sources.The same privacy restrictions as AdWords Remarketing (above) apply.

Further information can be found on the Facebook website.

Tiktok

Tiktok cookies allow us to serve adverts on social media platforms and to understand user actions made on our site once they have viewed or clicked an advert. We use it to improve our content, retargeting and user experience.

Tiktok privacy information and opt out options

Cookies generated by embedded third party content on our site

Hobsons

We have a contract with a third party, Hobsons Plc (Hobsons) to manage our Contact Us system. Cookies are used to manage this process. Find out more about the Cookies they use.

Live Chat

Some of the pages on our website include an option for you to chat with one of our advisers. If you choose to chat with us, cookies are set by LiveChat.

Google Maps

We use Google Maps to provide location information to users of our website. When a page containing a Google Maps is accessed, cookies are set by Google.

Rapidspike

We use Rapidspike to monitor the uptime and performance of our webpages. We also use Real User Monitoring to monitor performance for users outside the UK. We do not capture any personal identifying individual data.

YouTube

Some of the pages on our website contain videos from our YouTube channel which are embedded on the page. When a page containing a YouTube video is accessed, cookies are set by YouTube.

Twitter

Cookies are set by Twitter when you load any of our pages that include a list of ‘Latest Tweets’. Further information can be found on the Twitter website.

Vimeo

Vimeo sets a number of cookies on any page that embeds a Vimeo video. While we have no control over these cookies, they appear to include a mixture of pieces of information to measure the number and behaviour of Vimeo viewers, to hold information about current viewing video settings as well as a personal identification token, if you are logged into Vimeo. Furthermore, a set of cookies regarding Google AdSense advertising campaigns might be set, which contain identifiers that record user browsing behaviour.

AddToAny

We use AddToAny to allow visitors to share our news content to social media. AddToAny does not store personal data. Its technology vendors are compliant, and may temporarily store an IP address and set a client cookie for security purposes as regulations allow.

Cookies we use to track visits to our site

Google Analytics 

We use Google Analytics to generate reports on the number of visits to pages on our websites. The resulting statistics help us to plan improvements to our websites. Google Analytics is also used by third party widgets implemented on our website.

Opt-out of Google Analytics cookies

Google Tag Manager

We use Google Tag Manager to manage Google Analytics and other tracking cookies which may be used for marketing purposes or evaluating the effectiveness of our website.

Google Optimise

We use Google Optimise cookies, to test and analyse how audiences interact with the Sunderland University website. We do this to make informed decisions about how to provide a better experience for visitors to our website.

Hotjar

We use Hotjar. Hotjar is an analysis tool that records the online behaviour of a website's visitors. Hotjar sets persistent cookies (up to 365 days). Hotjar also records visitor information including mouse clicks and movements, scrolling activity and user input on our website (for example on a contact form) - this information is anonymous. Recordings are automatically destroyed after 365 days. You can opt out of Hotjar collecting your information at any time by following these instructions.