SARSAT Privacy Policy

Introduction

The NOAA/SARSAT website is provided as a public service by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. Information presented on these webpages is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested. Please review SARSAT’s Copyright Notice for further information.

This policy covers privacy, disclaimers, security, and information collection practices.

When you visit our website

We do not collect personally identifiable information (e.g., name, address, phone number, e-mail address) from users, regardless of age, unless you provide it to us (via email, for instance) or when submitting a beacon registration at the NOAA/SARSAT National Beacon Registration Website. (Please see separate Privacy Policy for the Beacon Registration Website which provides additional details such as the use of cookies and using forms to submit registration information.)

For website management, information is collected for statistical purposes. This government computer system collects information such as which domain access our pages and uses software programs to create summary statistics, which are used for such purposes as assessing what information is of most and least interest, which pages are accessed most frequently, what times access to our pages are heaviest, determining technical design specifications, identifying system performance or problem areas. In essence, our site captures and uses this information so we can provide better services to our visitors.

Email Sent to SARSAT

By sending SARSAT an electronic mail message (email), you may be sending personal information. In these cases, we may retain the information not only to respond to your request, but also as a record of correspondence according to Department of Commerce guidelines.

Sharing and Protection of Information

To the maximum extent of the law SARSAT does not distribute to the information collected from this website.

However, the information you furnish when registering your emergency beacon at the NOAA/SARSAT National Beacon Registration Database is mandatory and is intended to assist search and rescue teams in locating you or your craft in the event of beacon activation. The information will be provided to the United States Coast Guard, United States Air Force, and other Search and Rescue (SAR) teams as appropriate in the event of beacon activation. It will also be used to conserve SAR resources by helping to eliminate false alert deployments, as an inadvertent activation can be resolved with a phone call.

Failure to register, re-register, or to notify NOAA/SARSAT of a change in the status for a 406 MHz beacon could result in penalties and/or fines being issued to the beacon owner. An owner is required to notify SARSAT of any changes to the registration information. Please note, SARSAT will complement or update the database accordingly when a beacon owner’s registration expires and credible information is provided from SAR sources. SARSAT will also seek information from other databases (such as U.S. Postal Service records) to update and/or complement the existing information for a beacon registration. Solicitation of this information is authorized by Parts 80 and 87, Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

Use of Cookies

Neither the SARSAT website nor the National Beacon Registration Database Website use session cookies.

Interaction with Children

Children may find educational data and information on the SARSAT Website, and they may interact with User Services personnel through electronic or other means. However, no personally identifiable information is collected from any website visitor unless it is voluntarily submitted to us as a request for services.

Please see the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 for more information - http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm

Web Site Security

For Web site security purposes, and ensure that this service remains available to all users, all traffic is monitored to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, otherwise cause damage, or to conduct criminal activity. To protect the SARSAT website from unauthorized use and to ensure its proper function, activities of all users are subject to monitoring and recording. Safeguards are in place to identify and prevent unauthorized attempts to access or harm our information systems. Anyone using the SARSAT website may be subject to such monitoring and is advised that if there is evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, the results of this monitoring shall be made available to the appropriate officials for possible prosecution. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information (or otherwise cause damage to the SARSAT website) are strictly prohibited and is punishable under applicable federal laws.

Scope of the SARSAT Privacy Policy

The SARSAT Privacy Policy applies only to the webpages of the Search And Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) Program. Other NOAA and Department of Commerce organizations may have different Privacy Policies and/or information collection practices. You are encouraged to check the Privacy Statements when going to other NOAA webpages, or when following links to external webpages.

Web site visitors can view their rights under the Privacy Act by following this link: http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foiprivacyact.htm

Questions or Comments

If you have any questions or comments about the information presented here, please forward them to Sarsat Webmaster.