Updated: October 1, 2021

Read about the kinds of information that are collected when you visit this site, and how that information can be used. In addition to the information on this page, McMaster University also has a Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions, please contact Karen Hamilton.

Google Analytics and Advertising

The sites on the continuing.mcmaster.ca and shortcourses.mcmaster.ca domains, including this one, use Google Analytics. Some information, such as the pages you visit, your IP address (which implies location), and other browsing-related data, is sent to Google. Google may set and read cookies in your browser.

Learn more: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use [Google] services

We use Google Analytics data to analyze how people use the site and to make improvements. Google provides a tool for opting out of Google Analytics in case you don’t want to participate.

Google also provides aggregate data about our visitors’ demographics and interests using cookies, Device Advertising IDs, and the Google Signals feature (see below). This helps us understand our audience better — which helps us provide better content and to advertise more effectively.

Google advertising cookies on your computer allow us to link data from Google Analytics and Google Adwords. This allows us to show more specific advertising to groups of people who have taken certain actions on our website (or groups of people who are similar). This is called remarketing. These ads may be displayed in search results or on other sites across the internet.

We also use the Google Signals feature of Google Analytics. It provides aggregated, anonymized insights into visitor behaviour across different devices. Google associates visitor information from our sites with information from signed-in Google account users who have consented to this kind of association for ad personalization. Google may use information like user location, search history, YouTube history, and data from sites that partner with Google in the process. (We only see the aggregated, anonymized insights.) You can see (and delete) your Google Activity data on Google’s My Activity page.

You can opt-out of seeing personalized Google ads using your Google account settings. (There may also be similar settings for ads on mobile apps). You can also control some of the information Google uses to show you ads.

There are other tools you can use to opt-out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting. For example, visit the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice website for more information and one such tool. (European web visitors may find the Your Online Choices website helpful).

Conversion and Third-Party Tracking

We also use tracking methods to help us understand how people interact with pages after they arrive from specific sites or ads. For example, we can collect data about what people do on our sites after they click an advertisement or promoted post on a social media platform. It can also help us tailor content for people who have visited our site before.

Third parties, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn may use cookies, web beacons, and other storage technologies to collect or receive information about visitors from our sites and other sources on the internet. They use that information to provide measurement services, track conversions, and to serve ads based on a person’s interests, past behaviour, previously visited pages, or other demographic information. There are tools you can use to opt-out of the collection and use of information for ad targeting. For example, visit the Digital Advertising Alliance Consumer Choice website for more information and one such tool. (European web visitors may find the Your Online Choices website helpful).

More information:

• Twitter Conversion Tracking
• Twitter Privacy Controls for Tailored Ads
• Facebook Pixel Information
• Manage LinkedIn Advertising Preferences

Google Recaptcha

Some of our sites use the Google reCAPTCHA service to avoid spam form submissions. The service works by collecting hardware and software information, such as device and application data, and sending it to Google for analysis. The information collected in connection with your use of the service is used for improving reCAPTCHA and for general security purposes. It is not used for personalized advertising by Google.

Other Cookies

We may also set and read cookies in your browser for administrative purposes. For example, we may use a cookie to see if you’ve already taken a specific action on the site. We don’t store personally identifiable information in those cookies.