Cookie Policy
A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer's hard disk so that the website can record and read a small amount of information. A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the "lifetime" of the cookie, and a value, usually a randomly generated unique number.

Two types of cookies are used by Eduserv Athens:

Session Cookies which are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you close your browser session. These are used for Athens single sign-on and have a lifetime of 8 hours.

Persistent cookies which remain in the cookie file of your browser until they are deleted. These are used in Athens Devolved Authentication to route the user to the login point for his home organisation. They have a lifetime of 18 months.

Cookies can help a website to arrange content to match your preferred interests more quickly. Most major websites use cookies. None of the Athens cookies can be used by themselves to identify an individual.

You have the ability to accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser. However, you may not be able to use all the features of Eduserv Athens if cookies are disabled.

Find out more about cookies at http://www.allaboutcookies.org/cookies/

There are a number of ways to manage cookies. If you use different computers in different locations you will need to ensure that each browser is adjusted to suit your cookie preferences. Some modern browsers have a feature that will analyse website privacy policies and allow a user to control their privacy needs. These are known as "P3P" features (Privacy Preferences Platform).

If you want to know what cookies are being used by a website, using Internet Explorer 6, set your privacy preferences to the highest setting and then visit the pages on the website. In Netscape 7, select your preferences to reject all cookies and alert you each time a cookie is to be set - then visit the pages of the website. Both will prompt you each time a server tries to set a cookie on your browser - make a note of all the alerts that you receive as they will indicate the companies or servers from which those cookies emanate.

You can easily delete any cookies that have been installed in the cookie folder of your browser. For example, if you are using Microsoft Windows Explorer:
Open 'Windows Explorer'

Click on the 'Search' button on the tool bar

Type "cookie" into the search box for 'Folders and Files'

Select 'My Computer' in the 'Look In' box

Click 'Search Now'

Double click on the folders that are found

'Select' any cookie file

Hit the 'Delete' button on your keyboard

Note that Athens protected resources may themselves use cookies, these are not the responsibility of Eduserv Athens and you should contact the Data Service Provider directly if you encounter any problems.

Data Protection Act
This section describes the policies, procedures and safeguards that apply specifically to the Athens service, and covers the way we deal with information about Athens registered organisations, the nominated Athens administrator and the way we manage data about the users. Eduserv is registered under the Data Protection Act to hold personal data, and we abide by the provisions of the Act (http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk). In the classifications of the Act, each organisation is the "data controller" for the data held about its users, and Eduserv is a "data processor" which has been provided with that data by the data controller in order to be able to provide the Athens service.

Whether data is submitted directly by the administrator from a web browser or through bulk uploading, all data transmissions to and from the Athens service are securely encrypted. Furthermore, any passwords you send or submit to the Athens service are one-way encrypted before they are stored in the Athens database. The data is processed automatically by our systems without any human intervention. Only in the event of a technical problem will any of our staff be involved. All Athens staff have been instructed in the importance of adherence to the principles of the Data Protection Act and signed that they understand this privacy policy. Within Eduserv it is a disciplinary offence to divulge or alter any personal information. Personal data about your users is never modified or disclosed to a third party, including any data service provider supplying resources to your users.

The data service provider can only view anonymous information about a user and must comply with the relevant conditions of use in the Athens licence. The data service provider is only able to ascertain the e-mail address of the user's administrator, and is unable to query any personal information such as the user's surname, e-mail address or contact details, unless that person has given permission.

The same approach is taken to the personal data held for Athens administrators. However, users of an organisation must be able to contact their organisation. During the registration process, Athens requires an organisation to supply contact information with four options, a URL, an email address, a phone number and a name. The list is published on the Athens web site, and is made available to users during the login help sequence. These lists are updated automatically every night.

The Data Protection Act requires Eduserv to take appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure personal data. In order to comply with this requirement the Athens servers are only located in secure data centre locations with physical access limited to authorised staff.

Visitors Privacy Rights
If you have any concerns about data collection practices within Eduserv Athens, then please contact athens@eduserv.org.uk. Alternatively, you may write to the Chief Executive of Eduserv at the address in http://www.eduserv.org.uk/contacts.html.

Help

If you have problems understanding the Eduserv Privacy Policy please contact the information desk in the main library at Swansea University.

Tel: 01792 295697 or e.mail: library@swansea.ac.uk