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THE MINISTER FOR Higher Education has said “society would be better” with a co-educational model of learning.
In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Minister Patrick O’Donovan said he wants to see an end to single-sex schools, saying “we should be offering incentives and encouragement for education integration”.
He added: “If the first time that you come in contact with somebody from the opposite gender in your education journey is your first day in university at Freshers Week, that to me is absolutely crazy in 2024.”
There are currently 209 single-sex secondary schools in Ireland compared to 511 mixed schools, and 228 single-sex national schools compared to 2,900 that are mixed.
So today we’re asking: Should single-sex schools be phased out?
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What an odd idea that kids should be separated by gender in preparation for adult live, where we all live and work together.
@Daniel Dudek: From doing my degree in education, there is data that shows that girls learn better in a single sex environment. However this is countered by boys performing less well than in Co-ed environments. I’ve only ever taught in mixed schools and will be sending my own children to mixed schools and think the days of single sex schools are numbered. Many schools around me have voluntarily either amalgamated with neighbouring schools or started accepting other sexes in recent years. Private schools may be more reluctant to do so any time soon but I feel that they will naturally phase themselves out, without the need for government directives which can often lead to entrenched positions from those concerned.
@Daniel Dudek: I went to an all-boys school during my primary school and part of my secondary school, I got a great education what some may say a successful life, no contacts, no rich daddy to help me land a job. It’s a matter of choice.
@Longlin: The data could be scewed by the elite single sex boys schools contributing to the higher perfirmance in that demographic. There probably aren’t as many all girl or mixed private schools as there are boys.
@Longlin: I am curious as to how to interpret the statement ‘girls learn better in a single sex environment.’ I would ask – how do you define learning? Do you mean perform better in state examinations and assessments? Is that true for all subjects? What about measuring social development? How do we learn to relate? Do girls learn to communicate better? Do girls demonstrate a broader skill set including in construction, sport and the performing arts?
Then again how are boys in single sex schools mastering home economics, dance and demonstrating active listening skills and managing themselves? A lot done a lot more to do I think in this debate.
@Paul Ennis: I stated that boys on average did worse in single sex settings so I suppose they would be worse again if you took away the higher performing ones in the private schools. In relation to how learning was measured, I’d be fairly certain that it was strictly academic and social development would not have been considered in these studies.
@Daniel Dudek: Separated by sex not gender.
@J Ven: Your personal experience doesn’t matter when it comes to this type of data.
@Maria Doyle: 2 Gender, 2 sex, same thing.
@Alex:
1 English language, bot…”genders” + “sexes”.
@Alex: so I went to an all boys school and the subject is same sex school and you said my personal experience doesn’t matter when it comes to this subject. Maybe you should have paid attention at school, my good man, that’s like saying that your birth doesn’t count as a birth data.
@J Ven: You went to school but you learned nothing it seems.
Personal experience when it comes to this type of data doesn’t matter, period. Why are you getting mad at facts?
Most single sex schools are private schools, good luck trying to force that through. More woke nonsense that because O Donovan doesn’t agree with it he’s trying to remove the parent’s right to choose.
@Patrick Kennedy: That’s just not true. A lot of schools in Dublin alone are single sex. Especially secondary schools.
@Patrick Kennedy: You’re wrong on that assumption. The majority of public schools in this country have been historically single sex. CBS, Presentation, Ursuline etc. It’s only in relatively modern times that Co Ed schools have come into existence. This is changing now and the above mentioned schools have started the process of going Co Ed. Probably a good thing in the long term.
@Maurice Lee: Didn’t say anything about public schools lad, maybe read what I’ve written before going off on one.
@Patrick Kennedy: woke nonsense or just moving with the times.
@Patrick Kennedy: No surprise that someone who mis-used the word ‘woke’ made a comment that flies in the face of the facts.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: “woke” is the new buzzword for those who don’t want the world to move forward.
@brian madden: Woke is the buzzword for those who want the world to move backwards.
@Patrick Kennedy: Oh god, not again. There’s that tedious, boring, jaded, continuously misused word, again! It’s NOTHING to do with ‘woke’. It’s a simple case of addressing a glaring issue in how our society functions. It’s insane that you are expected to go through school, the place where you are supposed to learn about life, teamwork, respect and interaction in preparation for the workplace, and be segregated from half the population.
In an age where we are acutely aware of how badly women can be treated by men, now we’ve stopped sweeping it under the carpet, it’s imperative that young men learn how to interact and respect women from an early age. The proliferation of misogynistic porn that’s warping so many kids view of sexuality makes it even more urgent.
@Patrick Kennedy: Of course, the users of the word ‘woke’ don’t have a clue what it means, but they think it sounds good. One advantage though, of people like you using ‘woke’, is it identifies the user as a complete clown.
@Patrick Kennedy: my daughters went to a public all girls school, my son went to a mixed boys, there were years he learnt feck all due to the boisterous behavior of the boys, (he was no angel), the girls didn’t have that issue in their school. It seems boys learn better around girls, yet girls learn better on their own. I’m sure others will have a different opinion
@brian madden: Move forward????Are you having a laugh. Modern western culture reflects many depraved societies from the past where those societies eventually crumbled in a cesspit of their own filth. We have been regressing as a society since the beginning of this century and the looney toons are now clearly in charge of the asylum.
@Patrick Kennedy: the state pays teachers wages in private schools not thenprovate school. Thwbstate is the biggest investor in provate school funding in the country.
Having choice like this that make no fundamental sense and doesn’t appear to prepare our children for normal life (we don’t work and live in single sex environments) causes duplication of services and unnecessary spend that could be spent on other areas of education. Inserting “woke” into your statement is just plain stupid.
@Tom H: The people who misuse the word ‘woke’ pine after an era of high mortality from disease, women being locked up in homes and enslaved, clerical child abuse, fascist regimes across Europe, non-existent human rights, poor working conditions, no parental leave, etc. etc.
But at least everyone was straight and white, amiright?
@Tom H: we were not regressing as a society when the catholic church behaved like wild animals?
@Patrick Kennedy: I agree 100% that parents shoukd have a right to choose, but that does not include the right of a parent to choose to semd their daughter to the best private school if they can afford it. Gender should never be a reason for a school to deny registration. We laughed at The Garrick Club in London and yet we allow gender based discrimination in our schools! You talk about woke “nonsense! In what world is being awake or alert to social injustice or discrimination a bad thing?
@Patrick Kennedy: You’ve clearly never been to school in Ireland! Either that or you’re a bot. Single sex schools are NOT predominantly private. The fact that you’re still using the term “woke” is an indication enough of your level of intelligence.
@Jacintha Dumbrell: No right minded people are not pining for a return to women being oppressed or a patriarchal society or slavery or whatever other nonsense you just mentioned. What they are pining for is a time when children’s innocence was sacrosanct, where gay people were proud of their sexuality and not flaunting it in front of children for a whole month every year, where teenagers were allowed go through phases and come out to other end without being surgically mutilated, where genuine Christian values were respected for the enormous positive influence they had on Western culture (not the anti Christian harms perpetrated by evil priests and sisters), where people with mental health conditions received the treatment they needed and not have their delusions reinforced….I could go on and on but unfortunately we are headed in the opposite direction to where we need to be going and it is not going to end well for us just as it didn’t for our ancestors.
@Patrick Kennedy: grow the fk up. You don’t even know what woke means. Eejit.
@Patrick Kennedy: what’s woke about educating kids together?
@Marie Agnew: yep I agree
@Jack B Quick: many people are threatened by educate together because they believe a hard-line catholic ethos is the natural way to go. Funny, many of the same who chose their kids schooling with total compliance with the rcc still don’t cop that while they were having conversations in the neighbors garden about how ‘rcc is progressive these days’ they STILL are a single sex organisation (of a**** holes)
@Patrick Kennedy: Only backward and religious people think single sex school is a good thing.
@Tom H: have we been regressing the whole time? What about the overturning of the ban on same sex marriage and repeal the 8th ?! I’m far from a woke lad and I recognize both as big wins over the archaic culture wars which the rcc, a foreign outfit kept us in and deeply about raising new irish people in shame. If you’re talking about the breed of entitled, fellow human shaming, disposable vape types who wander around in summer as we see on public transport, making such a din it would put you off ever getting on then i agree. Then again, I’m in my thirties now and Ireland was boring. Really, really boring and still rather sanctimonious. Look at the lidos and amenities and bloody theme parks the UK has. Last time I checked we got none of this even out of the fake celtic tiger economy
No wonder we had and have so many hoodlums running our streets. Getting much worse now
@S Suilleabhain: The reason we have none of these things is we have always had gangsters, chancers and downright amadáns running the country. Our brightest and best stay well clear of the corrupt cesspit that is Irish politics. Our financial success has been down to a simple formula of being a tax haven for big US corporations and doing whatever the EU command us to do for our handouts. If the UK offered better incentives to multinationals in the morning, we would become a third world country overnight. And as for killing babies in the womb being a sign of progressiveness, I’m afraid your moral barometer is pretty depraved.
I inherently think it’s probably a good idea to educate kids together but, I’d like to see the data showing there are more benefits than drawbacks
@Tricia G28: T education is Education if we can help why don’t we
All education, regardless of the denominational status of the school, should be co-educational. That is, there should be no schools under the auspices of any religion.
@AnthonyK: exactly. That’s where these single sex schools came from. Boys educated for trades. Girls educated for office work.
Times have changed. They need to go.
@lastfewchocices: the only good thing about a mixed secondary school here is girls can do the same subjects as boys . Equal opportunities
I attended a single sex school and would recommend keeping them. After school we all took the long route home and mixed in the local square – 2 x Boys schools, 2 x Girls schools and 1 Church of Ireland coed. No problem mixing outside of school hours.
@Vincent Alexander: I attended a mixed sex school (back in the late 70′s/early 80′s….yes, they existed even back then, rare as they were) and it was a brilliant education for life. Sitting beside people of the opposite sex taught us all respect for each other and for me, gave me confidence for later life in relating to women. (Most of best pals to this day are women). We also had no school uniforms which created a free thinking generation of us, not afraid to be an individual and expressing ourselves freely as opposed to the military like repression in uniformed schools.
@Clyde Bear: must’ve had plenty of dosh
@CP: Wriong assumption. It was a public school. Sandymount High School which is now sadly gone. Same school Eamon Dunphy and Charlie Bird went to.
@Clyde Bear: Any school would be proud of Charlie Bird as a past pupil but Dumphy.
@Vincent Alexander: I attended a single sex school and I think it held me back. My talents did not lie in the subjects chosen for my gender.
@lastfewchocices: Probably a case for having an option if the population can justify it. My only regret is being taught through Irish. Looking back I don’t think I would have enjoyed the banter as much if the fair sex was present. This continued for two to three years post Leaving.
@Vincent Alexander: what a bizarre statement.
What is your “recommendation” based on? Me done it and me is ok!
@Jack B Quick: Yes it is based on me done it. Class attained high grades and were happy to attend school. Not aware of anyone from the class having problems mixing with the opposite sex. No reason why I shouldn’t recommend it.
@Vincent Alexander: I went to a mixed primary and single sex secondary. Some of my classmates had been in a single sex primary, and when they had classes with boys later on, they were scared stiff. Our secondary had an odd setup where for 5th and 6th year we had to go to the boys schools for some subjects and they had to come to the girls school for other subjects as neither school had enough teachers to cover a decent range of choices for the leaving cert. Those schools have just been amalgamated along with the mixed secondary in the same town as of this year. They had been talking about amalgamating them since the 80s! The lads I shared classes with actually asked why I wasn’t bothered being class with them after seeing how some of the other girls tried to avoid all interaction.
Those single-sex schools also create huge logistic problem for parents with several children. Need to bring and collect children from different schools at the same time! This is one of the reasons why birth rate is declining.
@Sergej Simonov: No it’s not one of the reasons the birth rate is declining. Not once have I ever heard anyone say I was going to have more kids but because of single sex schools I didn’t. There is a very easy solution to your logistical problem and that’s to put your kids in a mixed school. That’s what everyone I know including myself did when we have both sexes. Problem solved.
@Sergej Simonov: Which is more important the logistics or education?
@Ger Whelan: maybe in Ireland a factor in the declining birth rate is actually the schooling but in a different way, the fact the Catholic Church still has such patronage over most schools. Id say it’s definitely been having some impact in the modern era. The country is an embarrassment of a money scam when people go to have children as is, the church is shameful in it’s dominance over education here and needs to back off. It’s manipulative of them, and cowardly of parents to comply.
Schools forcing religion on children more than several years before. Now school books paid by the government and even if you declare that you don’t practice any religion those religious books still will be bought for your children. Than you find out from your children that they literally forced to study religion by those books. Have to literally go in school and protest against such practice. Religion should be thrown out of school forever.
@Sergej Simonov: I find it very hard to believe that children are forced to learn religion against their parents wishes.
@Sergej Simonov: my kids have to learn about all religions and neither them nor I have an issue with this.
@Sergej Simonov: no school will force a child to study religion, but parents/guardians do need to inform the school that they want to “opt out”. Unfortunately, in most schools that amounts to the child sitting in the same classroom anyway while religion is being taught, as they are not obliged to put alternative arrangements in place – and to be fair, most schools are so under-staffed relative to the level of need amongst pupils that it’s not feasible to accommodate pupils that opt out outside of their classroom. The obvious solution would be to implement a broad, inclusive curriculum, teaching about all religions, so no children need to be singled out or segregated from their friends, and make denominational instruction available as an optional extra, maybe after mass on a Sunday.
@mani mus: The obvious solution is not to teach religion at all.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: I don’t agree. Whether you believe in god or not, religion exists. To be clear, I don’t think denominational instruction should take place in state-funded schools, but I think it’s important to learn *about* different religions, simply because it will help with understanding how the world works.
@Sergej Simonov: what about children of Muslim faith who wear headscarf to school?
@mani mus: Would that include teaching the contradictions and obvious lies in a particular religious belief, or teaching?
Would that include showing how a particular religion is evil?
@Caroline O Toole: what about people who do have a problem? Should they be cowards about it like the previous generations and pretend it’s normal in 2024 just because SOME more liberal lessons slide through or many schools frame it around teaching ‘all religions?’
@Mary Kelly: ban it in education. That’s what France did.
Cant tell the kids that ‘no one knows’ so we make up a story
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: children are going to hear about religion/god/allah/buddha etc anyway, and are naturally going to be curious about these religions as they encounter them, whether it’s driving past a funeral outside a church, seeing people wearing religious clothing, friends making their first communion etc. Teaching them that this is what christians believe, and that is what muslims believe etc, in an inclusive setting, in an age-appropriate manner, and underpinned by the idea that we can respect the rights of others to hold various beliefs, can only be a good thing, for the children themselves, and for society as a whole. The alternative is ignorance, which is often the breeding ground of hate, anger and violence.
@ecrowley ecrowley: in secondary school.my 2 went to wasn’t like the enforcing in primary schools it’s more about religions and cultures.
@ecrowley ecrowley: you find it hard to believe, haha believe or to accept ? There’s a difference. Generations of Irish parents didn’t do anything because organised religion is a spell and they were under it. If I had a child I wouldn’t let them near a catholic primary education because i was of the silent minority who believes its wrong to accept what the holy see imposes drom malahide to Massachusetts. It’s very cowardly to conform and also thereby not even care about how it impacts others
@Sergej Simonov: in a primary school you can ask for your child not to take part in any religious practice that includes whole school masses
There is a thing called free will and freedom of choice, and although we don’t get much of it in this current climate here, we should not lose it. It’s our birthright!! Keep the current system as it is!!!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: We do not get a lot of choice in Ireland as it is, and we continue to dismantle this fundamental right
@Thesaltyurchin: Exactly what I was saying Salty. It’s being eroded from us on a daily basis, we are slowly morphing into a nanny state and letting it happen!!
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: it’s interesting. You argue for the incumbent system staying. The incumbent system is sectarian so aren’t you contradicting yourself for calling for it to thrive and calling that freedom of choice in Ireland?
A lot of comments here about religion being forced on school children. It would be educational to learn a little of all religions and maybe then people could get a long better when they understand or at least learn to respect each other’s religions
@Susan O’Neill:
Denominational Christianity projects a warped view of spirituality just as empiricism has a warped view of creation, so both are neither science nor religion.
At the perceptive level, there is no distinction between men and women, even though both have different physical attributes.
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/learning/universities/women-and-science/darwin-public-and-private
The substance of what is taught in schools is many magnitudes more important than the gender of the student. Many here are either stuck in the 17th century with Newton or the 19th century with Darwin.
@Gerald Kelleher: … and many are not
@Susan O’Neill: some cultures like religions are dangerous. They’re told a strictly formatted version of events. This is misinforming the child. Excluding religion especially when kids get over a month less schooling would be progressive in Irish schooling. It’s not as if you can tell a child a follower of one slaughtered forty the other month because of what they read God wants
@Gerald Kelleher: the problem is. They are only teaching kids about Catholic religion in primary schools here . Kids learn more about other religions and there cultures in secondary when all religions mixed together .
The role that “contact with the opposite gender” has on children’s “education journey” is unquantifiable IMO. Total fluff for the FFG press to push before the big call in November
@Darth O’Leary: And its opposite sex not gender.
The minister has plenty more important things that he could be prioritising to make society better, including addressing the 3rd level dropout rates, addressing the cost of college and accommodation for students. Addressing that colleges are paying full fees for a 2 year PM course and spending most of the time on placement or at home. Reduce the PME course to one year.
@Ed H: not to mention the staffing crisis. Many Secondary schools looking at dropping subjects as they have no teacher qualified in that subject.
@Ed H: Third level education is a business.
But if you go with the “I identify as’ nutters, it makes no difference. All the Best.
@087 bed: ‘All the best’?’ I’ve yet to see your best or any good in or from your comments.
@Jack Hayes: P E R S P E C T I V E.
@087 bed: It makes sense to have only mixed schools (in the public space) if say that state is threatened by changes in society/human behaviour they can potentially avoid a few law suits.
Well to an all girls primary school, and a mixed secondary school. Didn’t bother me either way
Another nonsense is when boys separated from girls after first class. Some gender discrimination obviously. Girls continue to study in the same school but boys thrown out. Only stone mad people could come out with that. Class photos are made but boys will not even remember their class mates girls because of early separation.
@Sergej: Soon, there would be only Royal Society secular rednecks worshipping academic icons and their disruptive laws of nature, laws of physics, laws of climate change, and laws of natural selection.
Many gullible Irish bought into the celebrity subculture, where the ability to be inspired and inspired (spiritual) is diminished by an ‘age of reason’ that lacks perceptiveness. What was a fringe manifesto became mainstream with the great darkness known as the Enlightenment.
The mathematical mind represents no competition for those with reasoning and perceptive abilities constituting spirituality, creativity, and productivity.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18269/18269-h/18269-h.htm#SECTION_I
A lot of what Pascal says concerning mathematicians without perceptive abilities is correct.
@Gerald Kelleher: Your issues with the connection between science and religion are really just your own G, you cant generalise any of this really, especially when being so (unrelentingly) specific, there is literally zero elasticity to your pint of view, which is odd given the ‘spirituality’ aspects of your ramblings and the unknown nature of them. It’s no ones fault if your Christian beliefs create a dichotomy with aspects of human academic thinking, Trying to impose your ‘perspective’ on others and generalise your a way to transcendence reads like fingers in ears and mouth on a megaphone
@Gerald Kelleher: You are, hands down, the weirdest commenter on here!
@Iano C: maybe you’re the rudest! Priority is swinging insults but far from analysing the unbelievable corruption in Irish political life WEEKLY
People should be able to choose for themselves. ffs we love creating problems and never solving them in this country.
I experienced both growing up and I think both have their benefits. I’d be curious to see the results of any study based on grades for both types.
A leftover from when the Church ruled the politicians with an iron fist. Segregation of the sexes in education breeds ignorance of how to deal with the opposite sex.
Having a male only church having the patronage of all the schools and deciding how our children should be brought up is ludicrous in this day and age when almost 90% of the population don’t bother to attend church having seen the depravity of what went on within the church and the trauma that hundreds of children suffered. Bishop Casey’s case comes to mind and we are only now learning the full horrors of that era
Unfortunately ffg are still on thier knees taking it in every hole they have from dillusion men in shirts, and irish citizens keep voting for them ,
@Robert Halvey: ?? . If that’s the best the opposition mentality can offer I’ll keep voting for them.
@Vincent Alexander: then you’re complicit in all of the scandals, ruined healthcare poor infrastructure and the rest of the major problems in this country. Tories.
@S Suilleabhain: Tories?! Wrong country, bot.
@Iano C: fine Gael and fianna fail are Tories – they operate the same way as the conservative party. Too tricky a concept for you to swallow ? I’m not a bot
@S Suilleabhain: You’re the only one swallowing. Stop trying to compare our political parties to the British. Even the most basic of an understanding of how politics works would know where the parties sit on the political scale. Dope.
@Iano C: indeed and where fg and ff sit on the political scale, is that theyre ideologically equivalent to the tories. It would be easy to swing an insult but I’m not really interested.
Boys and Girls learn differently, I think if we separated the genders we could customize the lesson plans to them. At the minute education is being geared more towards girls and young boys are suffering. Also I think it would allow the kids to focus on their education rather than trying to impress the other gender.
I went to a mixed school, if I had the choice today, I would pick a boys only school.
Yes, it is such an OLD Fashion concept, remement of the Catholic Church. We are NOT a Theoracy anymore…Thank God.
@Mick Hanna: Well, whatever school you went to, it didn’t teach you how to spell.
@Sean O’Doherty: Unfortunately there’s NO Auto correct to correct the misspelt word, but others didn’t complain?
Example from our family. Boy started in mixed school. There are three boys schools around were he could go after finishing first class – one regarded as bad, second good, third very good. In order to get him in better school we didn’t wait till he finishes his three years in a mixed school but took him out early in order to get place. He doesn’t even remember anyone from his class photo now. People just want to send child to school to stay there but not have head ache were to put him after several years and how to beat others to get place in better school.
But what about those who identify as cats or foxes where will they go?
But seriously same sex schools are somewhat outdated IMO
@nollaig o cellaigh: Clown.
@nollaig o cellaigh: IMO you’re an eegit
Segregation in terms of sex and religion should cease.
No. But they should receive NO state funding.
All schools should be LGBTQI+ at a minimum!
@Padraig O’Brien: no they should not
@Karen Marten: your prejudice extends beyond trans ? Wonder how you voted a few years ago could it be NO
@S Suilleabhain: ok ok.lets just put urinals on the walls in the girls toilets for them so
@S Suilleabhain: prejudice no realisim yes
@S Suilleabhain what one was that.?
@Karen Marten: the marriage vote. I just wasn’t sure if you were having a go in general. Of course these loos should be segregated. It’s necessary unfortunately
@Karen Marten: @Karen Marten: the marriage vote. I just wasn’t sure if you were having a go in general. Of course these loos should be segregated. It’s necessary unfortunately
@S Suilleabhain: why unfortunately ? ????
@Karen Marten: because In a more Ideal scenario we could comply with this part of this minoritys will. But as you acknowledge above, it would be very wrong for your daughter. Not that it’s all about you!
@S Suilleabhain: it would be wrong for ANY FEMALE to have a MALE Share a toilet in a school / work place. As I have already said let’s just put urinals in the FEMALE toilets for them in the girls schools if that’s the case why have male and female toilets at all . Oh yeah it’s for safety and dignity.
@S Suilleabhain: I’d that a question or a presumption
The idea that someone in contemporary Ireland who had their secondary education in a single sex school would first have contact with the opposite sex on “freshers day” is beyond ludicrous, and makes you wonder what planet the Minister lives on.
In any case, this isn’t a matter for the State to interfere in and dictate. It is a matter for parental choice.
Once again let people choose rather than imposing only one view.
No because there will still be the freedom of a choice
@Dominic Leleu: nope, there will be the guise of freedom of choice. Over 90% of schools are under the patronage of the very dark, male exclusive catholic church
In Christian physical terms, the relationship between the individual and the Universal is inspirational, or the Trinity as some call it. The perceptive abilities at the heart of spirituality or genuine religion distinguish between street noise and great music or an instructional manual and great literature.
Reason without perceptive abilities is a kind of death and it is something gained through the journey into adulthood when the heart grows in its development. The Enlightenment tried to rob humanity of its perceptive side and that the age of reason is all that matters.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed every every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.” William Blake
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Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
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