Cookie and other similar technologies policy

This cookie policy explains the different types of cookies and other technologies (collectively “Cookies”) that we use in our services, why we use them, and your choices for managing data collected through our Cookies.

We use cookies and other technologies to help keep you secure and give you the best experience possible when using The Open University’s websites. If you don’t enable cookies on your computer, tablet or mobile device, it might stop you from accessing some of our services.

The rest of this policy explains more about the types of cookies and other technologies we use (collectively called “cookies”), what they do and how you can manage your preferences.

You can read more about how we process your personal data in our privacy notices.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small amount of data, which often includes a unique identifier that is is stored on your device when you visit a website. It tells us how you’ve used our websites and apps before and means we recognise you as a unique customer. Cookies are commonly used on the Internet and do not harm your device system.

What are pixels and tags?

Pixels and tags are invisible images or pieces of code that you’ll find on most websites, apps and emails. We use them to tell us how people use our services. For example, we might place a pixel or a tag on a button on our homepage to show us how many times people have clicked on this.

Further information can be found at https://www.allaboutcookies.org/faqs/beacons.html.

How we use cookies

We use four categories of cookie on our websites:

  • Strictly Necessary
  • Analytics
  • Marketing
  • Tracking and personalisation

Some of these are 'Session Cookies', these only exist for the duration of your visit to our website and are deleted when you leave the website. Others are 'Persistent Cookies', these stay on your device until they expire or are deleted.

Some of the cookies and technologies we use are “strictly necessary, ” e.g. they are required to provide you with the service you have requested, or they help keep our website and the information you provide to us secure. We don’t ask for consent to use these.

The majority of Cookies are managed and controlled by The Open University, (‘first party cookies’), however, cookies may also be placed by our approved business partners ('third party cookies'). Third party cookies are typically placed when the website involves elements from other sites, such as images, social media activity or advertising.

The full list of cookies and technology we use is available on our 'Cookies you may see if you browse our site' webpage.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

You won't be able to switch off these cookies. These are essential for you to move around the website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas of the website, or remembering choices you make such as your country and language.

Analytics Cookies

These cookies help us understand how people use our websites, measure the impact of our marketing, and improve our website to give you the best possible experience. We also use cookie data to investigate fraudulent activity.

Marketing Cookies

We share information about your use of our website with trusted advertising partners to personalise ads and measure advertising performance. We also share encrypted details from enquiry or registration forms (such as email address, phone number, and IP address) with Meta, Google, TikTok and Snapchat to measure advertising effectiveness. We work with Microsoft to understand how you interact with our website. These partners may also process the data for their own purposes, including profiling and audience insights.

Tracking and personalisation

We will link your browsing data to your OU profile, so you receive a more personalised experience and communications, and to help us develop services, for example to train machine learning models that predict behaviour and outcomes.

How to stop or modify cookies and similar technologies

You can modify your preferences at any time using the 'Modify cookie preferences' link in the website footer on the bottom of every OU webpage.

You can also stop and delete cookies and similar technologies by configuring your browser not to accept them or opt-out. For more information on how to do these on popular browsers please use the links below:

If you would like to learn more about how advertisers use these types of cookies or to choose not to receive them, please visit the Your Online Choices website.