Cookie Policy

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, hereafter referred to as “Trinity College”, respects the privacy of all visitors to our websites. This document outlines our policy concerning the use of cookies on any website within the .tcd.ie domain. This policy may be updated to reflect technological or legislation changes which may affect the use and management of cookies within our domain.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small text files that are downloaded and stored in the user’s web browser while the user is browsing a website. They are used to remember visitor preferences and analyse how people use the website and may be saved by the user’s browser on their computer or mobile device. Cookies can be set as first or third party.

  • First Party Cookies
    First party cookies are cookies set by Trinity College websites within the .tcd.ie domain. Only these websites can read them.
  • Third Party Websites’ Cookies
    Some cookies that have been set on our websites are not related to Trinity College. When you visit a page with content embedded from service providers such as YouTube or Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google ads these service providers may set their own cookies on your web browser. Also, if you share a link to a Trinity College web page, the website you share it on (e.g. Facebook) may set a cookie on your browser. Trinity College does not control the use of these cookies and cannot access them due to the way that cookies work, as cookies can only be accessed by the party who originally set them. Trinity College recommends that you check third party websites for more information about these cookies.

Trinity College uses information gathered from cookies to help improve your experience of our websites.

1. Essential Cookies

These are essential in order to enable you to move around a website and use its features and/or services. Without these cookies, a website will not perform as intended and without certain services or features.

2. Persistent Cookies

These are used to store user preferences, including log-in credentials, bookmarks, favourites, menu preferences etc. and record information about how a website is used. When a user visits the same website again, the browser may send cookies back to that website allowing the website to recognise the user and remember things like their personalised details or preferences. Persistent cookies may expire after a predefined period of time or until the user deletes the cookie.

3. Session Cookies

These make it possible to navigate through a website smoothly. However these are transient and are automatically deleted after you close your web browser. They are only visible to your browser and are not shared with third parties. Session cookies do not collect information that can identify someone from the user’s computer and only store information in the form of a session identification.

4. Performance Cookies

Trinity College uses Google Analytics and other relevant technologies to collect anonymous traffic data to the website to help us analyse how users use the site. Cookies are used to collect anonymous data on user behaviour and standard Internet activity. The information stored in the cookie is transmitted to Google and then used to evaluate visitors’ use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity. Technical details in connection with visits to Trinity College websites may be logged by Trinity College’s Internet Service Provider for accounting and auditing purposes.

It is the policy of Trinity College not to disclose such technical information in respect of individual website visitors to any third party (apart from Trinity College’s Internet Service Provider which records such data on the University’s behalf and which is bound by confidentiality provisions in this regards, and Google as outlined below) unless obliged to disclose such information by a rule of law. The technical information obtained will be used for statistical and administrative purposes only.
Further information on Google Analytics is available at

Further information on Google’s Privacy and Terms is available at:

5. Advertising and Tracking Cookies

We sometimes use tracking pixels to assist with our online advertising and marketing to effectively promote the University and have a better understanding of what our audiences are interested in.  These cookies are anonymous and they help us collect information on our advertising campaigns. This, in turn, allows us to make our ads more relevant to our website users. This means you should generally only see ads relating to your personal interests and you won’t constantly see the same ones. They allow us to interact with you once you’ve left our website.
Trinity College may advertise using the Google Display Network to deliver online content such as imagery, text and videos on participating websites.  For example, if you have looked at certain pages on our website we might want to highlight upcoming events or give you more information about a specific course.  This process uses google remarketing technologies, is anonymised and you can opt out of these cookies at any time. On some occasions, Trinity College may also use DoubleClick which is required for advertising frequency capping.

  • Opt out Google Adwords: Users may opt-out of Adwords Remarketing use of cookies by visiting this support page
  • Opt out Double Click: Opt-out: Users may opt-out of Double Click cookies by visiting this resource and this policy page 

Trinity College may also use Facebook Retargeting which is a remarketing service provided by Facebook Inc using the Facebook Pixel on Trinity College websites.

Opt-out: Users may opt-out of Facebook Retargeting use of cookies by visiting Facebook Ad Preferences 

Facebook’s custom audiences feature enables Trinity to create an audience list for sending ads through Facebook. Trinity uses customer data such as email addresses and phone numbers to match (at an email address or telephone level) to Facebook users. Trinity may use personal characteristics such as age, role, your expressed interests, your previous interactions with the University or geographical location to target our communications, and advertising and promotions so that they are relevant to you. We may also use your personal characteristics (such as those contained within your Facebook profile) to assist us in identifying and targeting new audiences, including through online behavioural advertising (for example, through tools such as Facebook Lookalike Audiences).
Opt-out: Users may opt out of Facebook Custom Audiences by visiting Facebook settings 

How do I manage cookies?

Trinity College takes privacy concerns seriously, so if you do not want any information collected via a website cookie you can use your in-built browser settings to refuse or accept cookies at any time. The links below will take you to the browser’s page where you can manage your cookies and website data:

How to manage advertising and remarketing cookies
Opt out of advertising cookies

You can opt out of almost all advertising cookies by updating your preferences on the ‘Your Online Choices’ website. It is worth noting that opting out of advertising cookies won’t stop you seeing adverts, just that they won’t be tailored specifically to you.

Also, please see our Cookie Register for a list of cookies that are in use on the Trinity College website with a link to each providers opt out details.

How Do I Avoid Tracking Cookies?
If you are concerned about cookies, there are a few steps you can take. However, certain websites may not function properly if cookies are removed or deleted.

  • Be selective about which websites you visit.
  • Check your browser’s privacy settings. Most browsers have settings to either delete or block cookies from your computer automatically.

External Websites
From time to time we may link from our website to external websites that set cookies on your machine, please note such websites are outside the University’s control and are not covered by this Cookie statement.

Further Information

For further information please contact the Trinity College Data Protection Officer at:

Data Protection Officer
Secretary’s Office
Trinity College Dublin
Dublin 2
Ireland
dataprotection@tcd.ie