As a service to our customers, ASCR's Web site links to other federal agencies and in some instances, private organizations, when these outside sites provide appropriate information unavailable from ASCR or USDA. Links will go directly to useful pages, not necessarily to organizational home pages.
ASCR Web site Linking Policy
Privacy Policy
Our privacy policy is clear: We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information to us.
For more information, Please visit:
Accessibility Statement
USDA.gov maintains Accessibility Statement page which can be accessed at:
Freedom of Information Act
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.
ASCR maintains a FOIA home page which can be accessed at:
Digital Rights and Copyright
Most information presented on the ASCR Web site 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: "U. S. Department of Agriculture."
Some materials on the ASCR Web site are protected by copyright, trademark, or patent, and/or are provided for personal use only. Such materials are used by ASCR with permission, and ASCR 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.
Trademark
Congress has not granted the Department a trademark. Use of the USDA symbol is stated below:
"USDA Symbols or logos are intended for the official use of the United States Department of Agriculture only. They are expressly excluded from use to imply endorsement of a commercial product or service. The symbol or logo may not be used by anyone outside of USDA without permission."
Patent Laws
USDA observes laws governing patents, and provides information about patented items via the website http://www.ars.usda.gov/
You may need permission from the patent holder to use or duplicate provisions in the patent.
No Fear Act
On May 15, 2002, President Bush signed legislation called the No FEAR Act (Notification and Federal Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002). This law became effective on October 1, 2003. The primary purpose of the Act is to improve agency accountability for antidiscrimination and whistleblower laws.
USDA No Fear Act can be accessed at:
Quality of Information
USDA will strive to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of the information that its agencies and offices disseminate to the public.
Website Security
Information presented on the USDA website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.
1. For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all 1. For site security purposes and to ensure that this 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.
2. 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.
(http://www.archives.gov/records_management/
records_schedules.html)
3. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986
(http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ 18/1030.html)
and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.
(http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/compcrime.html)
Comments or Questions
If you have any comments or questions about the information presented here, please forward them to mailto:ascrwebmaster@usda.gov.
|
