Full policy

Legal Basis

The legal basis for processing the personal data which you provide as a student in Moodle is a ‘public task’. It is mandatory for you to engage with your module learning requirements in Moodle, in order for you to complete your educational programme at the School of Computer Science UCD.

Collection and use of personal information

Some data, including personal data, is processed for operational purposes and to manage the educational experience. Information on Moodle activity is collected routinely by the School of Computer Science UCD, in order to provide a virtual learning environment (VLE) for UCD faculty, staff and students.  The School of Computer Science UCD does not collect, use or disclose personal information except to carry out its obligations to UCD. As a VLE, Moodle allows faculty and users with instructor privileges to provide learning resources, assignments, quizzes, discussion fora and other learning activities as well as scoring, grading and giving feedback on student performance in those activities. Moodle facilitates student engagement with content and other learning activities such as assignments and quizzes. It collects data on student grades and usage such as date and time of access and IP address. All such data is retained for a period of 24 months from your last log in. This is in order to retain assessed work and outcomes as per the UCD Assessment Code of Practice

Users should be aware that any personally identifying information posted to shared areas of Moodle, such as the discussion boards, chat rooms and virtual classroom recordings, is available for use by others. The School of Computer Science UCD cannot prevent this. Users should not post personal or sensitive information to any part of Moodle or add links to inappropriate or unsuitable content. The School of Computer Science UCD reserves the right to monitor user activity in Moodle, and where necessary to take appropriate action. The School of Computer Science UCD is not responsible for the content of any websites linked from Moodle, or for personal information disclosed by individuals themselves. All use of Moodle and associated services must be in accordance with the UCD Information Technology Services​ Acceptable Use Policy.

Moodle exchanges data with other systems provided by UCD and third party systems which are integrated into Moodle. Information on Moodle activity may be aggregated with data from these systems in order to review aspects of courses, monitor student engagement and progress, and manage university resources more efficiently. The School of Computer Science UCD may also collect anonymised data on Moodle usage for statistical purposes or administrative functions. In exceptional cases permitted by data protection laws, UCD may disclose data without user consent or notice, for example, if it is required to investigate offences, to prevent injury or damage or to comply with a legal obligation. 

This privacy statement applies to the use of Moodle by the staff, students and authorised affiliates of UCD. Any data supplied to Moodle is stored within the European Union (EU) in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. 

Cookies

Cookies are small pieces of data placed on your web browser by the web sites you visit. Their use within the EU is governed by the Cookies Directive - Directive 2009/136/EC, which amends Directive 2002/58/EC. It provides that “the storing of information or the gaining of access to information already stored, in the terminal equipment of a subscriber or user is only allowed on condition that the subscriber or user concerned has given his or her consent, having been provided with clear and comprehensive information”.

Certain cookies are essential to the proper functioning of UCD systems, for example, cookies enable UCD users to access Moodle through single sign on (SSO) using their UCD Connect Id. The use of these functional cookies does not require consent, as they are necessary for the delivery and security of the service. The use of cookies on UCD systems is described in detail on the ​UCD cookies page.

Moodle uses cookies for essential functioning, performance monitoring and enhanced functionality as described in detail on the Moodle’s Cookies page​. While essential cookies can be blocked in a browser, some parts of Moodle will not then work. These essential cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Data Retention

The University will retain your personal data in Moodle for no more than 180 days after you graduate from your programme or the end of your relationship as a student with UCD.

Your Rights

Pursuant to the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have the following rights:

● Right to access

● Right to rectification

● Right to erasure if data is incorrect or no longer needed

● Right to limit or restrict how personal data are used

● Right to data portability

● Right to object to processing

● Right not to be subject to automated decisions

Some of these rights are not absolute rights and do not apply in all situations.

If you want to make use of your rights, please contact the Moodle administrator at cstech@ucd.ie​. If you have concerns about your rights as a UCD Moodle user, you can contact the UCD DPO by email gdpr@ucd.ie​.

If you are not satisfied with UCD’s response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you have the right to complain to the Irish Data Protection Commission. For more detail see https://www.dataprotection.ie

This statement should not be construed as a contractual undertaking.

The University will review and update this statement as appropriate. Therefore, you should revisit this page from time to time. 

Full policy

Please read this policy in conjunction with our privacy notice, which sets out additional details on how we use personally identifiable information and your various rights.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of text sent by your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the site or a third-party to recognise you and make your next visit easier and the site more useful to you. Essentially, cookies are a user’s identification card for the Moodle servers. Web beacons are small graphic files linked to our servers that allow us to track your use of our site and related functionalities. Cookies and web beacons allow us to serve you better and more efficiently, and to personalise your experience on our site.

Cookies can be "persistent" or "session" cookies.

How Moodle uses cookies

When you use and access the site, we may place a number of cookie files in your web browser.

Moodle uses or may use cookies and/or web beacons to help us determine and identify repeat visitors, the type of content and sites to which a user of our site links, the length of time each user spends on any particular area of our site, and the specific functionalities that users choose to use. To the extent that cookie data constitutes personally identifiable information, we process such data on the basis of your consent.

We use both session and persistent cookies on the site and we use different types of cookies to run the site:

• Essential cookies. Necessary for the operation of the site. We may use essential cookies to authenticate users, prevent fraudulent use of user accounts, or offer site features.
• Analytical/performance cookies. Allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and see how visitors move around the site when using it. This helps us improve the way the site works.
• Functionality cookies. Used to recognise you when you return to the site. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name, and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
• Targeting cookies. Record your visit to the site, the pages you have visited, and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make the site more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.

What are your choices regarding cookies?

If you'd like to delete cookies or instruct your web browser to delete or refuse cookies, please visit the help pages of your web browser. Please note, however, that if you delete cookies or refuse to accept them, you might not be able to use some or all of the features we offer. You may not be able to log in, store your preferences, and some of our pages might not display properly.

Cookies tables

The tables below list some of the internal and third-party cookies we use. As the names, numbers, and purposes of these cookies may change over time, this page may be updated to reflect those changes.

Moodle cookies

Third-party cookies