Privacy Policy

Protecting your privacy is important to us. This page outlines our privacy and security policy as they apply to our website. Our site does not collect any personally identifiable information (PII) about you during your visit to this site unless you choose to provide it. Our site does, however, collect some data about your visit to better understand how the public uses the website and how to make it more helpful. Our site collects information from visitors who read, browse and/or download information from this site. Our site never collects information for commercial marketing or any purpose unrelated to the Center’s mission and goals. Please contact us if you have any questions about our policies.

 

Types of Information Collected

When you browse through any website, certain information about your visit can be collected. Our site automatically collects and temporarily stores the following type of information about your visit:

• Domain from which you access the Internet.

• IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to a computer when surfing the Web).

• Operating system and information about the browser used when visiting the site.

• Date and time of your visit.

• Pages you visited.

• Address of the website that connected you to our site (such as google.com or bing.com).

• The keywords you enter into our search box.

 

Our site uses this information to measure the number of visitors to our site and its various sections and to help make our site more useful to visitors.

 

How Our Site Collects Information

This website uses Google Analytics measurement software to collect the information in the bulleted list under Types of Information Collected. Google Analytics collects information automatically and continuously. No PII is collected. Our site staff and contractors conduct analyses and report on the aggregated data from Google Analytics. The reports are only available to this website’s managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. Our site retains the data from Google Analytics as long as needed to support the mission of this website.

 

How Our Site Uses Cookies

When you visit any website, its server may generate a piece of text known as a “cookie” to place on your computer. The cookie allows the server to “remember” specific information about your visit while you are connected. 

 

The cookie makes it easier for you to use the dynamic features of web pages. Requests to send cookies from our site's web pages are designed to collect information about your browser session only; they do not collect personal information about you.

 

There are two types of cookies, single session (temporary) and multi-session (persistent). Session cookies last only as long as your Web browser is open. Once you close your browser, the cookie disappears. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer for longer periods.

 

Session Cookies: We use session cookies for technical purposes, such as to enable better navigation through our site. These cookies let our server know that you are continuing a visit to our site. 

 

Persistent Cookies: We use persistent cookies to enable Google Analytics to differentiate between new and returning visitors to the website. Persistent cookies remain on your computer between visits to this website until they expire. 

 

Opt Out or Disable Cookies: If you do not wish to have session or persistent cookies placed on your computer, you can disable them using your Web browser. If you opt out of cookies, you can still access the information and resources on the website.

 

Instructions to disable cookies in the most popular browsers are located at https://www.usa.gov/optout-instructions. Note: This will disable cookies from all sources, not just those from our website. 

 

How is Personal Information Protected?

You do not have to give us personal information to visit the our website. However, if you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself through an e-mail message, form, survey, etc., we maintain the information only as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication.

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If you choose to provide us with personally identifiable information, that is, information that is personal in nature and which may be used to identify you, through an e-mail message, request for information, paper or electronic form, questionnaire, customer satisfaction survey, epidemiology research study, etc., we will maintain the information you provide only as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication. If we store your personal information in a record system designed to retrieve information about you by personal identifier (name, personal email address, home mailing address, personal or mobile phone number, etc.), so that we may contact you, we will safeguard the information you provide to us in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. Section 552a).

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Site Security

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we employ software programs to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. In the event of authorized law enforcement investigations, and pursuant to any required legal process, information from these sources may be used to help identify an individual.

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Data Safeguarding and Privacy

All uses of Web measurement and customization technologies will comply with existing policies with respect to privacy and data safeguarding standards. Information. Groups of records that contain information about an individual and are designed to be retrieved by the name or other personal identifier linked to the individual are covered by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. Section 552a).  Our site will retain data collected using the following technologies long enough to achieve the specified objective for which they were collected. 

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Our site uses web measurement and customization technologies to help our websites function better for visitors and to better understand how the public uses the online resources we provide. All uses of web-based technologies comply with existing policies with respect to privacy and data safeguarding standards. 

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Groups of records that contain information about an individual and are designed to be retrieved by the individual’s name or other personal identifier linked to the individual are covered by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. Section 552a). When you visit our site, please look for the Privacy Policy posted on the main pages. When web measurement and customization technologies are used, the Privacy Policy/Notice must provide:

• Purpose of the web measurement and/or customization technology;

• Usage tier, session type, and technology used;

• Nature of the information collected;

• Purpose and use of the information;

• Whether and to whom the information will be disclosed;

• Privacy safeguards applied to the information;

• Data retention policy for the information;

• Whether the technology is enabled by default or not and why;

• How to opt-out of the web measurement/customization technology;

• Statement that opting-out still permits users to access comparable information or services; and,

• Identities of all third-party vendors involved in the measurement and customization process.​

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