cao.ie
The CAO processes applications to all Irish universities — names, addresses, Leaving Certificate results, and special-needs data. The site: 16 requests, 1 domain. No Google, no GTM, no analytics, no CDN, no cookie banner. Everything is local. Full compliance.
Request timeline
Context
The CAO (Central Applications Office) is Ireland’s sole body handling applications to all higher education institutions in the country. Around 80,000 applicants go through the CAO each year. The data processed includes personal information, Leaving Certificate results, data on special educational needs and disabilities, and information on entitlements. HAR: 16 requests, 1 domain.
A clean architecture
All 16 requests go exclusively to www.cao.ie. The stack: Foundation 5 CSS, Foundation JS, jQuery 1.x, and Modernizr — all hosted locally under /include/foundation/. The Open Sans Condensed Light font and the Foundation icon font are located under /include/fonts/. The logo and interface icons are under /images/. The favicon is served from /icons/.
There is no Google Tag Manager, no Google Analytics, no Google Fonts, no Facebook, no third-party library CDN, no advertising pixels, no performance-monitoring tools, and no CMP platforms. Not a single connection is made to any domain other than www.cao.ie.
There is no cookie banner — because there is nothing to ask about. Set-Cookie is zero across the entire session.
Documentation
The CAO provided four data protection documents: a Data Protection Policy, a Data Retention Policy, a Data Transparency Document, and a Joint Controller Agreement with Irish HEIs. The Data Transparency Document describes, in detail, each category of data collected, the legal bases, retention periods, and the list of recipients. This is fully developed Art. 13/14 documentation covering the processing of application data. The technical side — the website and its dependencies — matches the declared standard: there are no external recipients, because there are no external connections.
Place within the series
cao.ie joins the benchmark tier of the Irish series: mygovid.ie (1 external domain), revenue.ie (1 external domain, self-hosted infrastructure), and etenders.gov.ie (4 domains with minimal violations). Among all Irish sites reviewed to date, cao.ie is the only one with zero external domains and zero violations.
Conclusion
The CAO processes data belonging to tens of thousands of applicants — including special categories of data concerning educational needs and disabilities. The site’s technical architecture matches the sensitivity of the data processed: zero external dependencies, zero trackers, zero cookies. This is a deliberate architectural choice, not an accident: CDN versions of Foundation and jQuery exist and are deliberately not used.
How to verify: download the file and compute its checksum — sha256sum file.har (Linux, macOS) or certutil -hashfile file.har SHA256 (Windows); it must match the one shown. The conclusions apply to the scope of this measurement — see the limitations of the method.
d17804d9ab994c6a3d4fec671d884831a502f8821cf06b2e47269087773b1c10Want a response from the company about this audit? → Open the tool
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Тема: Запрос доступа к персональным данным (ст. 15 GDPR) — cao.ie Кому: [укажите адрес компании — DPO / поддержка / юридический отдел] От: [Ваше имя], [контактный email] Прошу предоставить доступ к моим персональным данным, обрабатываемым в связи с использованием сайта cao.ie. 1. Категории данных и цели обработки (ст. 15(1)(a)-(c)) Прошу предоставить информацию по всем категориям, целям и получателям обработки моих данных на этом сайте — независимо от того, выявлены ли на сегодняшний день какие-либо несоответствия. 2. Получатели, сроки хранения и передача за пределы ЕЭЗ (ст. 15(1)(c)-(d), 46) Прошу также указать полный список третьих лиц-получателей, применимые сроки хранения по каждой категории и правовые основания передачи данных за пределы ЕЭЗ, если таковая происходит. Полный технический разбор с доказательствами (сохранённый сетевой журнал, контрольная сумма SHA-256) опубликован по адресу: https://gdpru.eu/en/audits/ie-cao-ie/ 3. Автоматизированная обработка и профилирование (ст. 15(1)(h)) Прошу сообщить, применяется ли в отношении меня автоматизированное принятие решений или профилирование, и если да — раскрыть логику такой обработки. С уважением, [Ваше имя] [контактный email] [Страна] [Дата]
Subject: Data access request (GDPR Art. 15) — cao.ie To: [insert the company's address — DPO / support / legal department] From: [Your name], [contact email] I request access to my personal data processed in connection with the website cao.ie. 1. Categories of data and purposes of processing (Art. 15(1)(a)-(c)) I request information on all categories, purposes, and recipients of my data processed on this site — regardless of whether any non-compliance has been identified to date. 2. Recipients, retention periods, and transfers outside the EEA (Art. 15(1)(c)-(d), 46) I also request the full list of third-party recipients, the applicable retention period for each category, and the legal basis for any transfer of data outside the EEA. The full technical audit with evidence (saved network log, SHA-256 checksum) is published at: https://gdpru.eu/en/audits/ie-cao-ie/ 3. Automated processing and profiling (Art. 15(1)(h)) Please state whether I am subject to automated decision-making or profiling, and if so, disclose the logic involved. Sincerely, [Your name] [contact email] [Country] [Date]