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Privacy Policy for the MRC CBU website
General
This policy explains what information we gather when you visit the websites hosted on the Unit's webserver, and explains how that information is used. Sites of external bodies hosted on the server may have their own privacy policies.
It is important for you to appreciate that the sites provide extensive links to other independent sites, both within the MRC, the University of Cambridge and elsewhere. This policy applies only to direct accesses to the sites hosted on this machine. You will need to consult the appropriate information on other sites for information on their policies.
Any changes to this privacy policy will be posted on this page. It was last updated in March 2008.
Data collected
In common with most webservers, this server automatically logs certain information about every request made of it (see below for more details). This information is used for system administration, for bug tracking, and for producing usage statistics. The logged information may be kept indefinitely.
Relevant subsets of this data may be passed to computer security teams as part of investigations of computer misuse involving the server or other computing equipment in the Unit. Data may be passed to the administrators of other computer systems to enable investigation of problems accessing the server or of system misconfigurations. Data may incidentally be included in information passed to contractors and computer maintenance organisations working for the Unit, in which case it will be covered by appropriate non-disclosure agreements. Otherwise the logged information is not passed to any third party except if required by law. Summary statistics are extracted from this data and some of these may be made publicly available, but those that are do not include information from which individuals could be identified.
[You should appreciate that a log is a record of what a server sees, not necessarily what was initially sent. If a request is sent via a proxy the log file will show the proxy's address. If someone has forged your address the log file will show your address]
A number of fill-in forms are provided on some sites. The pages containing these forms include information on how data submited on them will be processed and used.
Sites do not currently use cookies for any purpose except where noted.
Logged data
The following data is automatically logged for each request:
- The name or network address of the computer making the request. Note that under some (but not all) circumstances it may be possible to infer from this the identity of the person making the request. Note also that the data recorded may be that of a web proxy rather than that of the originating client
- The date and time of connection
- The HTTP request, which contains the identification of the document requested
- The status code of the request (success or failure etc.)
- The number of data bytes sent in response
- The contents of the HTTP Referrer header supplied by the browser
- The content of the HTTP User-Agent header supplied by the browser
Logging of additional data may be enabled temporarily from time to time for specific purposes. In addition, the computer(s) on which the web sites are hosted keep records of attempts (authorised and unauthorised) to use them for purposes other than access to the cache. This data typically includes the date and time of the attempt, the service to which access was attempted, the name or network address of the computer making the connection, and may include details of what was done or was attempted to be done.
Access to personal data
Please contact the Webmaster if you need further information.