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Cookie policy

Cookie statement

Who we are

The Health Research Board (HRB) funds health research and we manage a number of national health information systems. The HRB was established under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act 1961 and by SI No 279 of 1986, from the amalgamation of the Medico-Social Research Board and the Medical Research Council of Ireland.

What are cookies?

Cookies are computer files that collect information about how you interact with websites.

Cookies and the HRB

The HRB website collects three types of cookies.

  1. Frontend cookies to allow a smoother user experience for site visitors
  2. Backend cookies which facilitate the management of the site by authorised site administrators
  3. Site usage cookies, namely those used by Google Analytics.

A full register of the cookies found and their purpose in the context of the site is outlined below. The data that they collect is anonymous and it cannot be used to identify individual visitors to our site.

Any data that the HRB collects will be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003. We do not sell on any data collected to any third parties. We use it solely to analyse the performance of our website and how we might improve it. We do use a specialist company to assist us in this analytics, and they too are bound by the same confidentially rules and do not share the information with anyone else.

Cookies used on the HRB website
Cookie name Category Duration Description / Usage
__utma Google analytics 2 years To identify users as unique for the purpose of tracking unique visitors (see https://developers.google.com/analytics/resources/concepts/gaConceptsCookies
__utmb Google analytics 0h 30m 0s To establish and continue a user’s session within the website (see https://developers.google.com/analytics/resources/concepts/gaConceptsCookies)
__utmc Google analytics Not set (current session) Used in conjunction with __utmb to determine whether or not to establish a new session for the user (see https://developers.google.com/analytics/resources/concepts/gaConceptsCookies)
__utmz Google analytics 6 months To store information relating to how the user came to be viewing the present page, whether by referral, direct link or another method (see https://developers.google.com/analytics/resources/concepts/gaConceptsCookies)
fe_typo_user TYPO3 Frontend Current session A session key which tells the website whether or not a visitor is logged in. No personally identifiable information is stored in this cookie.
hide_cookie_alert TYPO3 Frontend 1 year Records whether the user has dismissed the cookie policy notification box in order to prevent the notification from appearing again on other pages once it has been dismissed.
be_typo_user TYPO3 Backend Current session A session key which tells the website whether or not a user is logged into the backend for the purposes of site administration. No personally identifiable information is stored in this cookie.
typo3-login-cookiecheck TYPO3 Backend Current session A session key which verifies whether a user agent (such as a web browser) allows the setting of cookies. This in turn allows site administrators to log into the backend in order to edit the site.
PHPSESSID TYPO3 Backend Current session A session key which allows the website to keep track of activity relating to your session, allowing a smoother experience when using the website. No personally identifiable information is stored in this cookie.
Further questions

Any questions or concerns about our cookie policy and / or your privacy can be addressed to the webmaster, Brian Cummins, webmaster(at)hrb.ie.

By continuing to use the site, we assume that you agree to our use of cookies.

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