ChildCare.gov Privacy Policy

(May, 2006)
Thank you for visiting the ChildCare.gov web site and for reviewing our Privacy Policy. ChildCare.gov is sponsored by the Child Care Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The ChildCare.gov web site is hosted with the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). Our policy is clear:

We collect no information about you, other than information automatically collected and stored (see below), when you visit our web site unless you choose to provide that information to us.

At ChildCare.gov we are especially concerned about protecting the privacy of children. We hope parents and teachers are involved in their children’s Internet explorations. It is particularly important for parents to guide their kids and teens when they are asked to provide personal information online.

We specifically ask children to get their parents' permission before providing any information on line -- at our site or any other site -- and hope parents will always be involved in those decisions. Parents can review the child's personal information, ask to have it deleted and refuse to allow any further collection or use of the information. Furthermore, parents have the option to agree to the collection and use of the child's information without consenting to the disclosure of the information to third parties.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored

When you browse through any web site, certain personal information about you can be collected. We automatically collect and temporarily store the following information about your visit:

• The name of the domain you use to access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are using an American Online account, or stanford.edu, if you are connecting from Stanford University's domain);
• The date and time of your visit;
• The pages you visited;
• Type of browser used; and
• The address of the web site you came from when you came to visit.

We use this information for statistical purposes and to help us make our site more useful to visitors. Unless it is specifically stated otherwise, no additional information will be collected about you. ACF will record your email address in the event that you send a message by email or if you register on the ACF Questions and Answers Support Site (http://faq.acf.hhs.gov).

Your email address will be temporarily stored and will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it. Your email address will not be added to any mailing lists without your consent by way of a specific request in writing.

Personally Provided Information

You do not have to give us personal information to visit our web sites. If you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself through an e-mail message, form, survey, etc., we will only maintain the information as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication. Communications which are considered official correspondence are maintained, as required by law, for historical purposes. These communications are archived on a monthly basis, but are also protected by the Privacy Act which restricts our use of them, yet permits certain disclosures.

Persistent Cookies

Consistent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' policy on the Usage of Persistent Cookies, "persistent" web cookies are not used on ChildCare.gov and ACF web sites, or by contractors operating web sites on behalf of ACF, unless certain conditions are met, including clear and conspicuous notice. "Persistent" web cookies are defined as web cookies that can track the activities of users over time and across different web sites.

Disclosure

ACF does not disclose, give, sell or transfer any personal information about our visitors, unless required for law enforcement by statute.

Intrusion Detection

This site is maintained by the U.S. Government. It is protected by various provisions of Title 18, U.S. Code. Violations of Title 18 are subject to criminal prosecution in federal court. 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.

Systems of Records

Information originally collected in traditional paper systems can be submitted electronically, i.e., electronic commerce transactions and information updates about eligibility benefits. Electronically submitted information is maintained and destroyed pursuant to the Federal Records Act and in some cases may be subject to the Privacy Act. If information that you submit is to be used in a Privacy Act system of records, there will be a Privacy Act Notice provided.

ChildCare.gov is a comprehensive online resource designed to link parents, child care providers, researchers, policymakers and the general public with Federal Government sponsored child care and early learning information and resources both quickly and easily.

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The information posted on the ChildCare.gov website includes hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. ChildCare.gov provides these links and pointers solely for our users' information and convenience. When users select a link to an outside website, they are leaving the ChildCare.gov site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website.

HHS and ChildCare.gov :

• do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on a linked website;
• do not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer;
• cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites;
• are not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites; and
• do not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.