Thank you for visiting the Internal Revenue Service's FIRE web site. The Internal Revenue Service administers this site and is committed to protecting the privacy rights of America's taxpayers. These rights are ensured through the Internal Revenue Code, the Privacy Act, other Federal statutes and IRS policies and practices. Our concern for your privacy is no different in the electronic age. Any personal information you may provide as part of the account creation process will be used for contact purposes only.   We may use the contact data you provide to solicit your feedback regarding our services.

We will not collect personal information about you simply because you visit this site. To improve the usefulness of this web site for our users, we automatically collect and maintain statistical information from our site's data logs that concern network traffic flow and volume. This information consists of: name of domain from which the visitor accesses the Internet (e.g. "a company.com"; "a school.edu"; or "an agency.gov"), Internet protocol number, date and time the e-services web site is visited and type of browser and operating system used to access the site.

This information does not identify individual visitors and is used to assist program administrators in any technical problems that may occur. Aggregate information about the individual web pages visited is collected to improve the content and structure of the web site. This information is retained for a minimum of 90 days to comply with National Archives and Records Administration requirements.

The FIRE web site uses temporary session "cookies" to give users a single, uninterrupted session when they are online. FIRE requires that you use a "cookie"-enabled browser when you are within the secured area of the web site. This enables you to move from one secure section to another without having to stop and re-enter your identifying data (such as username and password). This temporary session "cookie" contains a system-generated session ID only and is immediately deleted upon leaving the site.

We also monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage to the web service. We focus on web site security so that this service remains available to you and other visitors. No attempts are made to identify individual users unless illegal behavior is suspected.

Any information we collect and maintain in the course of responding to you will be handled in accordance with the access and privacy protection requirements of the Privacy Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Internal Revenue Code. For further information regarding these statutes, visit the IRS Electronic Freedom of Information Act Reading Room.

We will not share the information you give us with anyone unless required by law. We also will not sell your information.

If you have any questions or comments regarding our web site privacy policy, please contact the Office of the Privacy Advocate by mail at:

Director, Office of Privacy
Internal Revenue Service
Room 7050 OS:MA:P
1111 Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20224