Of the information we learn about you from your visit to the ORD Web site, we store only the domain name from which you access the Internet (such as www.aol.com), the date and time you access our site, and the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked to our site. This information is used to measure the number of visitors to the various sections of our site and to help us make our site more useful to visitors. We do not attempt to associate this information with individual users. Unless we specifically state otherwise, no additional information will be collected about you.

When inquiries are e-mailed to us, we store the question and the e-mail address so we can respond or refer the question to the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center. In response to questions on rare cancers, we refer to the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS) toll free at (800) 4-CANCER. Unless otherwise required by statute, we do not publicly identify who sends questions or comments to our Web site. We will not obtain information that will allow us to personally identify you when you visit our site, unless you chose to provide such information to us. If you choose to provide us with personal information, this information will not be released, disclosed, sold, or transferred to any outside source unless required for law enforcement or by statute.

E-mail sent to ORD may be seen by a number of people who are responsible for answering questions. If the ORD staff person who answers the e-mail or the information specialist of the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center does not know the answer to your question, your query may be forwarded to another employee of the NIH or the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center who is more knowledgeable in that area. On occasion, we may conduct a study concerning the types of questions sent to us. These studies may involve coding the queries to see if there are recurring problems that users have in finding information. The knowledge gained by these studies is used to improve our Web site to make it more responsive to the needs of its users. We do not collect your name and e-mail address for any purpose other than to respond to your query. Nevertheless, you should be aware that e-mail is not necessarily secure against interception by others. If your communication contains sensitive or personal information, you may want to send it by postal mail or relate it by telephone.

In the near future, this site will run customer satisfaction surveys that employ persistent cookies. Participation in this data collection effort is completely voluntary, and failure to respond will in no way affect the visitor's ability to access information. This information will be used by ORD solely for the purpose of improving our public Web site. More information is available on this use of persistent cookies.

This site is supported 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 may employ software programs 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.

Questions about NIH privacy policies, including ORD's, should be sent to the NIH Privacy Act Officer.