Privacy policy and terms & conditions
Our approach to your privacy
We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who use our services, for example visiting our website or signing up to our mailings lists; how we use this data; the conditions under which we may disclose it to others; and how we keep it secure.
We may change this policy from time to time so please check this page occasionally to ensure that you’re happy with any changes. By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this policy.
Any questions regarding this policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to [email protected]
Website
Website statistics and Google Analytics
We collect data about traffic to our website and how people use our website using Google Analytics. The data available to us is aggregated and anonymised, so that we cannot access personal information, such as IP addresses, and cannot identify how any individual has used the website. We may collect information about your computer, including your operating system and browser type, for system administration and in order to create reports. This is statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns, and does not identify any individual.
Google Analytics is a web analytics tool that helps website owners understand how visitors engage with their website. Google Analytics customers can view a variety of reports about how visitors interact with their website so that they can improve it.
Like many services, Google Analytics uses first-party cookies to track visitor interactions as in our case, where they are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We then use the information to compile reports and to help us improve our site.
Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. These cookies are used to store information, such as the time that the current visit occurred, whether the visitor has been to the site before and what site referred the visitor to the web page.
Google Analytics collects information anonymously. It reports website trends without identifying individual visitors. You can opt out of Google Analytics without affecting how you visit our site – for more information on opting out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites you use, visit this Google page.
How we’ll use Google analytics information
The information we collect from our Analytics is used to inform our understanding of how visitors use our website, how we can best serve them with targeted messaging, how we structure the website and how content is arranged there.
How long we keep your information
This aggregate, anonymous data that we collect is not deleted from our systems, so that we can track use of the website over time.
User submissions
As part of providing a service through our website, we ask visitors to ask us questions or to submit evidence. This does not mean that we will publish either of these forms of submission or the names of those who have submitted them. These submissions are intended as contributions to allow us to consider the full scope of public interest as well as to make us aware of any research that might be relevant to the service we are providing. If we do incorporate or reference any research, the relevant researchers will be appropriately cited.
Mailing List
What information we collect
When you sign up on our website to receive news from us, we will collect and process your data to allow us to carry out your request and to allow us to understand the composition of the users of our service.
This information will typically include your name, email address and which organisation you represent.
Why we collect and process this information and how we will use it
When you sign up to receive news from us via the mailing list form, we will use your data to send you regular emails about new content or materials which we think you might be interested in.
We will not share your personal data with any other third-party, unless we have expressly asked permission from you to do so.
How long we keep your information
We will only hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary to carry out the above uses. For example:
If you sign up to our mailing list, we will store your data either until you unsubscribe (there will always be an option to opt-out on every email we send).
Licensing (Creative Commons)
Licensing on this website works under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA)
You may share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
You may also adapt the material. This usage is dependent on you following the conditions:
Attribution - You must give appropriate credit and provide a link to our website. If you have made any changes, you must indicate where but not in a way that suggests that we endorse you or the use of our work.
ShareAlike - If you edit, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license conditions as the original and with no further restrictions.
Your rights
You can ask to be removed from our mailing list at any time, either by unsubscribing on an email we have sent you, or by emailing us at [email protected]
You can also:
- request a copy of your personal information, and to have any inaccuracies corrected.
- request that we remove all of your personal data from our systems.
- request that we restrict the way we process your data.
To do any of the above, please email [email protected], with as much information as possible about your request, and we will respond within 30 days. In some cases, this may mean that we cannot carry out the activity for which you originally provided your information: for example, if you applied for a job, we may not be able to process your application.
If you are unhappy with the way we have processed or stored your information, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Please visit their website for more information on how you can do this.
Changes to this policy
This is the latest version of our privacy policy (last updated on 01/06/2020). Any changes we may make in future will be included here. If appropriate, we may be email to you directly.
By continuing to use our website, you will be deemed to have accepted these changes.
Contact us
If you have any question or comments about our privacy policy, you can email us at [email protected], or write to:
The Economics Observatory team
University of Bristol
12 Priory Road
Bristol
BS8 1TU