Privacy and cookies
Last updated: 21 August 2026
About this notice
This notice explains how personal information is used when you visit the NanoFlash website, contact the project or use its private intranet. NanoFlash is a research project coordinated by the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge.
Who is responsible for your information?
The University of Cambridge is the data controller for personal information collected through this website. You can contact the NanoFlash team at nanoflash@ceb.cam.ac.uk.
For questions about data protection or to exercise your rights, contact the University of Cambridge Information Compliance Office at data.protection@admin.cam.ac.uk. You can contact the University’s Data Protection Officer at dpo@admin.cam.ac.uk.
What information do we collect?
When you visit the website
Our web server may record technical information such as your IP address, the date and time of your visit, the pages requested, your browser type and diagnostic or security information. We use this information to operate, protect and troubleshoot the website.
When you contact NanoFlash
If you use the contact form or the “Ask a question” form, we collect the information you choose to provide. This may include your name, email address, organisation, enquiry topic, message or question. An email address is optional on the “Ask a question” form unless you would like a direct reply.
Please do not send medical records, detailed health information or other confidential material through these forms. NanoFlash cannot provide individual medical advice.
When you use the intranet
For authorised project members, we process account details, sign-in and security information, uploaded content and files, and basic activity records needed to operate and protect the private project workspace.
How and why do we use your information?
We use personal information to:
- operate, secure and maintain the website and intranet;
- respond to enquiries and route them to an appropriate member of the NanoFlash team;
- manage requests about research collaboration, media and public engagement;
- manage access to the private project workspace; and
- meet legal, regulatory and records-management obligations.
We normally process website security data, routine correspondence and project administration information where this is necessary for the legitimate interests of the University and the NanoFlash project. Where processing is part of the University’s research and education functions, it may be necessary for a task carried out in the public interest. We may also process information where required by law.
We do not use information submitted through this website for automated decision-making or profiling.
Who may receive your information?
Information is available only to authorised people who need it for the purposes described above. This may include relevant University of Cambridge staff, members of the NanoFlash consortium when they need to help answer an enquiry or manage project work, and website hosting or technical-support providers acting on our instructions.
We do not sell personal information. We may disclose information where required by law or where necessary to protect the security and rights of the University, the project or other people.
International transfers
NanoFlash involves partners in the United Kingdom and European Economic Area. If personal information needs to be transferred outside the United Kingdom, the University will use an applicable adequacy regulation or appropriate contractual and organisational safeguards.
How long do we keep information?
- Technical server and security logs are normally retained for no longer than 90 days, unless they are needed to investigate a security incident.
- Contact-form and question-form enquiries are normally retained for up to 24 months after the last substantive contact. Information that becomes part of an official project record may be retained longer under the University’s records-management requirements.
- Intranet account and activity information is retained while the account is active and afterwards only as long as needed for project administration, security and records-management requirements.
Cookies
The current public NanoFlash website does not use analytics, advertising, personalisation or external-media cookies. It therefore does not ask visitors to make a cookie choice.
Drupal may set a strictly necessary session cookie when an authorised user signs in to the intranet or when a secure session is otherwise required. The cookie name begins with SSESS. It is used to keep the user signed in securely and is deleted when the user signs out or expires automatically after the configured session period, currently up to approximately 23 days. It is not used for analytics or marketing.
If optional services such as analytics, embedded video or maps are introduced later, this notice and the website’s cookie controls will be updated before those services are enabled.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have rights to access your personal information and ask for it to be corrected, erased or restricted. You may also have the right to object to processing or receive a copy of information you provided in a portable format.
To exercise a right, contact data.protection@admin.cam.ac.uk. More information is available in the University of Cambridge’s data protection guidance.
Complaints
If you have a concern, please contact the University first so it can try to resolve the issue. You can also complain to the University’s Data Protection Officer at dpo@admin.cam.ac.uk or to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office through ico.org.uk.
External websites
This website links to other organisations. Their own privacy notices explain how they use personal information when you visit their websites.
Changes to this notice
We will review this notice when the website, its forms or the services it uses change. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last updated.