Privacy Policy & Disclaimers

Privacy Policy

The Long Island Geographic Information System (LI GIS) respects the privacy of visitors to our Web site. We collect a limited amount of information on usage of the Web site for statistical purposes, in order to measure the number of visitors to the various sections of the site and to help us make the site more useful to visitors. Federal government Web sites are generally prohibited from using persistent cookies and this site does not employ them.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Cancer Institute, of which LI GIS is a part, do not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about your visit unless required by law to do so.

When inquiries are mailed to us, we store the question and the E-mail address information so that we can respond electronically. Unless otherwise required by statute, we do not identify anyone who sends questions or comments to our web site. We will not obtain any information that will allow us to personally identify you when you visit our site, unless you chose to provide such information to us.

Confidentiality and Privacy of Human Subject Data, Other Dataset Restriction Policies and Protections

Maintaining patient and provider confidentiality is a primary concern in light of the sensitive nature of some of the data in the LI GIS. To ensure the confidentiality and privacy of individuals whose data are contained in the LI GIS, personal identifiers for all patient and medical care providers are removed from health data. However, there remains the remote risk of re-identification (given the large amount of data available), and researchers must pledge their commitment to confidentiality and privacy as part of the application process to obtain access to the LI GIS data.

Certain other datasets were provided by their owners/custodians with the understanding that use be restricted to approved investigators who provide specific justification to use them.

Investigators are required to obtain NCI’s approval in order to utilize the data in the LI GIS. NCI will work with investigators requesting data files to balance their research needs with those of the individuals and institutions included in, or concerned with, the data.

Links to Other Web Sites

Our Web site has links to many other Web sites, including some sites which are maintained by non-governmental organizations or private companies. EGRP is not responsible for the contents of any off-site Web page referenced from this site. Specifically:

• LI GIS cannot guarantee the privacy or security of information you provide to these other Web sites. You should review their privacy policies as well if you have concerns.
  
  
• Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, process, service, manufacturer, or company does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the US Government or LI GIS.

Information Disclaimer

The information provided using this Web site is only intended to be general summary information to the public. It is not intended to take the place of the written law or regulations.

Intrusion Detection

This site is maintained by the US Government. It is protected by various provisions of Title 18, US 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 employ software programs that monitor traffic 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.