The ITS Privacy Office and the Office of the Vice President for Communications (OVPC) released a new consent and preference management integration for U-M websites, replacing the OneTrust Cookie Consent module that had been in use since 2022.
The new integration, developed to accommodate U-M’s complex, decentralized web environment, offers the same functionality while allowing for additional flexibility, such as easy integration and customization and ability to implement the banner on non-umich.edu domains. Administrators of umich.edu websites with a deployment of the OneTrust module had until March 21, 2025 to integrate the new U-M Cookie Disclosure.
The majority of umich.edu websites using the cookie disclosure choose to activate it based on geolocation – only displaying to website visitors from the EU, where privacy laws require it. While there are no similar regulatory requirements for public institutions like U-M in the United States, website administrators are encouraged to consider general implementation of the disclosure, where all website visitors can easily accept or deny cookies. This aligns with best privacy practices and demonstrates the university’s commitment to respecting the personal information of its community members and guests. In 2022, the Safe Computing website led the way by implementing general cookie disclosure and we hope to see more umich.edu websites take action in the protection of privacy as a human right.
Contact the OVPC Digital Strategy team at [email protected] for technical questions about integrating the U-M Cookie Disclosure. For general web privacy inquiries or help writing a privacy notice for your website, contact the ITS Privacy Office at [email protected].