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Privacy Policy, FOIA, Accessibility Statement, Nondiscrimination Statement, and Information Quality
Privacy Policy
Thank you for visiting WIREC2008.gov and reviewing our privacy statement. Our privacy policy is clear: We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our Web site unless you choose to provide that information to us.
Here is how we handle information about your visit to our Web site:
Information Collected and Stored Automatically
If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the Web site, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:
The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "your school.edu" if you connect from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our Web site;
The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
The date and time you access our site;
The pages you visit; and
If you linked to WIREC2008.gov from another Web site, the address of that Web site.
We use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors - to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors are using. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits.
You Send Us Personal Information
If you choose to provide us with personal information, as in an e-mail or by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it to us through our Web site, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us locate for you the information you have requested. We treat e-mails the same way that we regard letters sent to WIREC 2008. We are required to maintain many documents under the Presidential Records Act for historical purposes, but we do not collect personal information for any purpose other than to respond to you. We only share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. Moreover, we do not create individual profiles with the information you provide or give it to any private organizations. WIREC 2008 does not collect information for commercial marketing.
When You Visit WIREC 2008 Web sites
Please read the WIREC 2008 Privacy Statement when you visit those Web sites. Where necessary, an Agency/Staff Office may have additional privacy criteria, conditions, or information that you should know.
Links to Other Sites
Our Web site has links to many other Federal agencies. In a few cases we link to private organizations, with their permission. Once you access another site through a link that we provide, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site.
Web Site Security
Information presented on WIREC2008.gov is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.
For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.
Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration General Schedule 20. General Schedule 20
The E-Government Act requires that agencies conduct privacy impact assessments for electronic information systems and collections and, in general, make them publicly available.
A PIA is an analysis of how information is handled: (i) to ensure handling conforms to applicable legal, regulatory, and policy requirements regarding privacy, (ii) to determine the risks and effects of collecting, maintaining and disseminating information in identifiable form in an electronic information system, and (iii) to examine and evaluate protections and alternative processes for handling information to mitigate potential privacy risks.
FOIA
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which can be found in Title 5 of the United States Code, section 552, was enacted in 1966 and provides that any person has the right to request access to Federal agency records or information. All agencies of the United States government are required to disclose records upon receiving a written request for them, except for those records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions and three exclusions of the FOIA. This right of access is enforceable in court. The Federal FOIA does not, however, provide access to records held by State or local government agencies, or by private businesses or individuals. All States have their own statutes governing public access to State and local records; State agencies should be consulted for further information about them.
Accessibility Statement
There are a number of resources available that describe the elements of accessible Web pages as well as listings of companies that provide assistive computer technology including screen reading software.
Many of the documents on WIREC2008.gov are in HTML or ASCII (plain text) formats. These formats are generally accessible to people who use screen readers. We also have a large number of documents in Adobe Acrobat? Portable Document Format (PDF).
PDF format is used to preserve the content and layout of our hard copy publications. Publications in PDF can only be viewed and printed using the Adobe AcrobatReader?, version 3.0 or higher. You can download and get help using the Acrobat Reader at the Adobe Systems, Inc. site. The downloadable Acrobat Reader software is available at NO CHARGE from Adobe.
People using screen-reading devices generally are unable to read documents directly in PDF format, unless they have an accessibility plug-in installed on their system along with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. This plug-in is available at NO CHARGE from Adobe. Adobe also has online tools that will convert PDF files to HTML on request. To get the plug-in and latest news about Adobe's accessibility tools and services, visit the Access Adobe site.
You can view our online publications that are in Microsoft PowerPoint? (.ppt) format if you have any version of PowerPoint installed on your computer. For those who don't have the software, the Microsoft Corporation offers a FREE PowerPoint file viewer. You can download and get help using the PowerPoint viewer at the Microsoft Download Center.
You can view publications in Microsoft Word? (.doc) format if you have Word, version 6.0 or higher, installed on your computer. Word documents can also be viewed with many other word processing software programs. Additionally, Microsoft offers a FREE Word file viewer that you can download at its Microsoft Download Center.
Most information presented on WIREC2008.gov is considered public domain information. Public domain information may be freely distributed or copied, but use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested. Attribution may be cited as follows: "WIREC 2008."
Some materials on WIREC2008.gov are protected by copyright, trademark, or patent, and/or are provided for personal use only. Such materials are used by WIREC 2008 with permission, and WIREC 2008 has made every attempt to identify and clearly label them. You may need to obtain permission from the copyright, trademark, or patent holder to acquire, use, reproduce, or distribute these materials.
Links to Other Sites
WIREC2008.gov has links to many other Web sites. Once you access another site through a link that we provide, you are subject to the copyright and licensing restrictions of the new site.
It is the sole responsibility of you, the user of this site, to carefully examine the content of the site and all linked pages for copyright and licensing restrictions and to secure all necessary permissions.
Nondiscrimination Statement
"WIREC 2008 prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. WIREC 2008, as hosted at USDA, is an equal opportunity provider and employer."
Quality of Information
WIREC 2008 will strive to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information that its agencies and offices disseminate to the public.
