Cookie Statement

Our Role

The Ombudsman for Children’s Office (OCO) is an independent statutory body, which was established in 2004 under the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002. Under the 2002 Act (as amended), the Ombudsman for Children has two core statutory functions:

• to examine and investigate complaints made by or for children about the administrative actions, or inactions, of public bodies
• to promote the rights and welfare of children up to the age of 18.

Purpose of the OCO’s Cookie Statement

This cookie statement sets out how the OCO uses cookies and similar tools on our website, what we use them for and how we protect and share your data.

Information about the OCO as Data Controller

The OCO is the Data Controller for personal data collected by the cookies on this website.Our Data Protection Commission registration number is 7901/A.Please use the Contact Us form at the bottom of our website pages for any data protection queries you have.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small files that are created and saved on your phone, tablet or computer when you visit a website. The term cookies can refer to cookies set in your web browser (e.g. Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox or Brave) as well as a number of similar technologies including tracking pixels/web beacons, local shared objects/flash cookies and access to device information. Please see the next section for more information on the type of cookies used by this website.

Cookies store information about how you use the website, such as the pages you visit on our website and how you interact with the content on some of those pages. If you use the social media buttons on our website and allow the cookies from the companies that own these platforms then they will collect information about you. More information is available below.

Cookies are not viruses or computer programs. They are very small so do not take up much space.

What does the OCO use cookies for

The OCO uses cookies for the following purposes:

• Enable core functionality such as page navigation, security and logged-in status (strictly necessary)
• Understand how visitors interact with the content (analytics)
• Improve the Website by ensuring the Website is performing properly (performance cookies)
• Capture the preferences of visitors to the Website, run surveys and allow you to watch a video (functional cookies)
• Track how you use social media embedded on the Website (personalisation cookies).

Which cookies do the OCO use?

General Information

Source (Where cookies come from)
First Party Cookies	These cookies are provided by us and used by various features on our Website. Examples may include customising a visitor’s visit, providing statistical information, and verifying a visitor’s identity for security purposes.
Third Party Cookies	These cookies are provided by “Third Party” vendors who provide products and features we have integrated into our Website. Examples include social media sites and security systems.

Expiration (How long cookies last)
Session Cookies	These cookies are added when a visitor starts to browse our Website or interacts with a specific feature and are deleted when the browser is closed.
Persistent Cookies	These cookies are added when a visitor starts to browse our Website or interacts with a specific feature, but may remain stored on your Device until a certain termination date is reached (in terms of minutes, days or years from the creation/update of the cookie).

Type (How do we categorise the cookies)
Strictly Necessary cookies	We set certain cookies which are strictly necessary to allow you to access the Website, to move between pages and to receive services which you have requested.
Analytics	We set analytics cookies to collect information about how visitors use the Website, for instance which pages visitors go to most often. These cookies don’t collect information that identifies a visitor. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous.
Performance cookies	We set performance cookies to improve our Website and ensure that it is performing correctly
Functional cookies	We set functional cookies to allow the Website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features, such as playing a video. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise.
Personalisation	Third parties use their own cookies to track performance, identify fraudulent and non-human traffic and serve you with relevant advertising where you have consented to this.

Website Cookies and other tracking technologies

This is a list of the cookies that are set by the Website:

Cookie Type	Name	Purpose	Expiration	Who Provides the Cookie?	Opt Out Link
Necessary	moove_gdpr_popup	Used to store the visitor consent for cookies.	180 days	OCO.ie	n/a
Analytics	_ga	A Google Analytics cookie that is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.	730 days		https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
Analytics	_gat	A Google Analytics cookie used to throttle the request rate.	1 day		https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
	_gid	A Google Analytics cookie used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visited in an anonymous form.	1 day		https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
Functional	rc::a	A Google cookie that is used to distinguish between humans and bots. This is a persistent cookie.		Google	n/a
Functional	rc::c	A Google cookie that is used to distinguish between humans and bots. Lasts for the duration of the session.		Google	n/a
Performance	JSESSIONID	Monitoring web performance
Targeting	NID	Assigns a Google ID	183 days	Google
?	__cfduid	Used to speed up page load times		JotForm

WHAT ARE SCRIPTS AND THIRD-PARTY REQUESTS?

Scripts are small pieces of computer code that can be used to track users and their behaviour on websites. The Website uses scripts that are provided by SurveyMonkey, JotForm, Vimeo and Google.

WHAT ARE SOCIAL MEDIA BUTTONS?

We have included social media buttons on the Website. These provide links to our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube accounts. We do not place any cookies or other trackers when you use these links from the Website. The OCO does not process personal data from social media platforms. However, if you are logged into your own account for any of the social media channels then these parties may use their own scripts and trackers to record that you have visited our social media account.

We use social media platforms because they are a valuable tool for us to raise awareness of the work we do with different audiences. The companies who own these social media platforms are commercial entities. We want to remind you that information shared by you on our timelines, on pages or in private messages on our social media may be used or sold by these companies for commercial purposes.

For more information about how these Third Parties process your information please read the links provided below.

Social Media Platform	Policies	Opt-out
Twitter	Privacy Policy | Cookies | GDPR Compliance	Opt-out options
Instagram	Privacy Policy | Cookies | GDPR Compliance	Opt-out options
Facebook	Privacy Policy | Cookies | GDPR Compliance	Opt-out options
Youtube	Privacy Policy | Cookies | GDPR Compliance	Opt-out options
General		Opt-out Options

WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION DO YOUR COOKIES COLLECT?

We receive the following types of information about you through the cookies we use

• Cookie browser data: cookie identifiers, time/date, pages viewed, whether and to which cookies you have consented,;
• Device data: device type, screen resolution, operating system version, browser information like its version and basic settings ;
• Log data: Time and duration of usage of the Website and search data;
• Location data: Data about your country & county of access as proclaimed by your device;
• Behavioural data: Data about your usage of the Website
• IP addresses: In server log files for website security purposes

We anonymise and aggregate the data that we collect. Where you give us permission to collect additional information then we can do this on the basis of your consent. There are a small number of situations where we collect the information in our legitimate interests, for instance IP address data in weblogs to help us keep the Website secure.

HOW LONG DOES MY CONSENT LAST FOR?

Your consent will last for 6 months from the date you last provide it to us using the cookie tool on the Website. After this period, the cookie tool will automatically treat your consent as withdrawn. You can change your cookie setting by clicking here or from the “Cookie Preferences” from the bottom of each page on the Website.

HOW LONG WILL YOU RETAIN THE INFORMATION?

We do not process or retain personal information in an identifiable format for longer than is necessary.

We process and retain your personal information for the following durations:

• With respect to strictly necessary cookies, the processing of your personal information ends with your browsing session after which your personal information is deleted (except in relation to cookies used to remember your consent preferences, which we retain and process for 6 months from the date you provide your consent).
• All other cookie-related personal information is processed until the consent which permits such processing is withdrawn or expires (i.e. after 6 months in most cases), at which point it is deleted.

The only exceptions to the periods mentioned above are where:

• the law, court or supervisory authority requires us to hold your personal information for a longer period, or delete it sooner;
• you have raised a legal claim, complaint or concern regarding the processing activities described in this statement, in which case we will retain your information for a period of 6 years following the date of that claim, complaint or concern; or
• you exercise your right to have the information erased (where it applies) and we do not need to hold it in connection with any of the reasons permitted or required under the law.

WHO WILL MY PERSONAL DATA BE SHARED WITH?

We disclose your personal information to third parties or permit them to access that information in connection with the purposes mentioned above.

Our third-party service providers, agents and subcontractors (“suppliers”) and other third parties may receive cookie-related personal information either directly from you, us or from one of our suppliers.

Our suppliers can be categorised as follows:

• Legal, security and other professional advisers and consultants
• Social media platforms
• Website and data analytics/modelling platform providers
• Website and app developers
• Website hosting services providers

The majority of suppliers we use are processors with whom we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it other than in accordance with our specific instructions. We only disclose to them or allow them to access personal information that is necessary for them to provide their services.

WILL MY PERSONAL DATA BE TRANSFERRED OUTSIDE OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (EEA)?

The transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure and may involve the transfer of personal data to a third party outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). To the limited extent that it is necessary to transfer your personal data outside of the EEA, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the privacy and integrity of such personal data, including Standard Contractual Clauses under Article 46.2 of the GDPR, adequacy decision under Article 45, and the Privacy Shield mechanism. Please contact us if you wish to obtain information concerning such safeguards (see Contact Us below)

We use Google Analytics to collect information about your use of the Website. Google does transfer data to the United States of America (USA). However, we have anonymised IP addresses for the Website which means that no individual can be identified by their IP address.

Twitter and Youtube also transfer data collected by the cookies to the USA. We are working to understand how the data transfers to the USA can continue to be conducted lawfully and may take additional safeguarding actions to protect any data collected and transferred.

HOW CAN I MANAGE COOKIES?

You can control the cookies placed and retained on your Device. The Privacy Statement and this Cookie Statement are provided to be transparent about our practices regarding the use of cookies and to allow you the opportunity to make an informed choice. You can change your cookie setting by clicking here or from the “Cookie Preferences” from the bottom of each page on the Website.

Where applicable, we will obtain your prior informed consent to use cookies and other tracking technologies which store or access information on your Device. Most browsers accept cookies automatically but they can be set up to ask for your prior consent before an individual cookie is set on your Device. This will give you control over your cookies, however, it may interfere with your browsing experience as some websites may not function properly and you may not be able to take advantage of all the features offered by the Website.

For instructions on blocking and deleting cookies, see the privacy and help documentation of your specific browser’s website. If you use more Devices and/or browsers you will need to disable cookies on each Device and on each browser separately. Here are the locations of the cookie settings for all major web browsers:

• Internet Explorer- Tools > Internet Options > Privacy tab.
• Mozilla Firefox- Tools > Options > Privacy menu.
• Safari- Edit > Preferences > Privacy menu.
• Chrome- Settings > Content Settings > Privacy > Cookies.

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

If you limit the ability of the Website to set cookies, this may prevent you from using certain features of the Website properly and your user experience – which will no longer be personalised for you – may deteriorate. You may also be able to opt-out from certain cookies through third-party cookie management sites. Disabling cookies may prevent you from using certain parts of the Website. If you delete your cookies from the browser, you may need to remember to re-install opt-out cookies.

WHERE CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT COOKIES?

You can find more information about cookies by visiting the following information websites:
www.aboutcookies.org
www.allaboutcookies.org

Your Data Rights

As an individual you have the following rights:

ePrivacy rights– the right to withdraw your consent to non-necessary cookies – you can change your cookie preferences by clicking here or from the “Cookie Preferences” from the bottom of each page on the Website.

Data Protection rights- As an individual whose personal data is processed by OCO, you have the following rights:

• the right to be informed, which is what this privacy statement is for
• the right to access the personal data we hold about you, subject to lawful restrictions
• the right to object to direct marketing, (either use the ‘unsubscribe’ button on our emails or contact us directly)
• the right to object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests
• the right to erasure (in some circumstances)
• the right of data portability
• the right to have your personal data rectified if it is inaccurate
• the right to have your personal data restricted or blocked from processing

To exercise any of these rights, please use the Contact Us form to get in touch or contact us using the details in the next section.

If you are not happy with the way we have handled cookies or your personal data, and are unable to resolve the issue with us personally, you can complain to the Data Protection Commission.

How to contact the OCO

You can write to us at:

Ombudsman for Children’s Office
Millennium House
52-56 Great Strand Street
Dublin 1, D01 F5P8

You can ring us on: (01) 865 6800

You can contact our Data Protection Officer (XpertDPO):

• by writing, to the address above
• by telephoning, on the number above
• by email, at oco@xpertdpo.com

Last updated September 2020.