NHLBI Privacy Statement
Thank you for visiting the NHLBI Web site and
reviewing our privacy policy.
The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services,
of which NHLBI is a part, does not disclose,
give, sell, or transfer any personal information
about visitors to its Web sites, unless
required by law or court order.
The NHLBI is committed to protecting your privacy. We
will not collect any personal information about you when you visit our Web site
(other than the standard information automatically collected and stored in the
Web server's logs) unless you choose to provide it to us.
Detailed information regarding server logs, and
voluntary submission of personal information, "cookies", security, and
intrusion detection systems is provided below.
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:
- Your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address.
(An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer
whenever you go on the Web.)
- The domain from which you access the Internet (for
example, aol.com, if you are connecting from an America Online account, or
WFU.edu if you are connecting from Wake Forest University's domain).
- The Internet address of the Web site, if any, from
which you came to our site (for example, www.nih.gov if you come to our Web
site by clicking on an NHLBI link on the National Institutes of Health Web
site).
- The date and time you arrived at our site and how
long you spent visiting the site.
- The name and version of your computer's operating
system and browser: for example, Windows 95/Netscape Navigator 4.5. (This
information is supplied automatically by your computer.)
- The pages you visit.
We use this information to help us make the site more
useful to visitors -- to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the
types of technology our visitors use. Unless it is specifically stated
otherwise, no additional information will be collected about you.
If You Send Us Personal Information
If you choose to provide us with personal
information, either by E-mail or by filling
out a form and submitting it to us through
the Web site, this information will not
be released, disclosed, sold, or transferred
to any outside source unless required
by law or court order.
Occassionally, we use pop-up forms to obtain
feedback from visitors on how well the
site is meeting their needs. Any time
this happens, you are free to close the
window and resume browsing; you are not
required to provide any information in
order to use this site.
If You Send Us E-mail
If you send us E-mail, we will collect and store your
E-mail address and the content of the E-mail, including any personal
information you chose to include, and will use it only to respond to your
request quickly and accurately. However, E-mail is not necessarily secure
against interception. If you are worried because your communication is very
sensitive, you can send it by postal mail instead.
If You Fill Out Online Forms
Certain areas like the "NHLBI Online Catalog" and the
"Join the Health Information Network" include forms where you actively enter
your personal information. We use this personal information to ship you
products or to provide you with the latest health and research information.
Specifically:
- When you order, we need to know your name, E-mail
address, mailing address, credit card number, and credit card expiration date.
This allows us to process and fill your order and to notify you of your order
status.
- When you sign up for services like "Join the Health
Information Network," we need only an E-mail address, which we use to send the
information you requested. We also collect information about your interests in
order to send health information that more accurately meets your needs. You do
not have to provide this additional information to receive the service.
- We may also use the information we collect to
occasionally notify you about important changes to the Web site, new NHLBI
services, and special offers we think you may find valuable.
- When placing an order from the NHLBI Online
Catalog, you are specifically asked if you would like to receive E-mail updates
about new NHLBI publications and services. If you check this box, your E-mail
address will be placed on a contact list used exclusively for the dissemination
of information by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This contact
list will not be released to any outside organizations.
Cookies
Some pages on this Web site, like the NHLBI Online
Catalog, employ "cookies." A cookie is
a small file that a Web site transfers
to your computer's hard disk to allow
the server to "remember" specific information
about your session while you are connected.
Requests to send cookies are not designed
to collect information about you, but
only about your "browser session." The
cookies make it easier for you to use
the dynamic features of our Web site.
The cookies and the information about
your session are automatically destroyed
shortly after you close your browser.
The information is not permanently stored
on your computer. We do not collect personal
information about you except as described
above.
The NHLBI, along with many NIH sites,
are now running customer satisfaction
surveys
that employ persistent cookies, which
are not destroyed when you close your browser.
Participation in this data collection effort
is completely
voluntary, and failure to respond will
in no way affect your ability
to access any part of our Web site. The
information from the survey will be used
by NHLBI solely for the purpose
of improving our public Web sites. More
information is available on this use
of
persistent cookies from the NIH Web site.
Security
The NHLBI uses the latest encryption technology to
keep your personal information safe. All your ordering information -- including
your name, address, and credit card number -- is encrypted using a secure
server for maximum security. Your credit card and billing information cannot be
read as it travels to our ordering system. To ensure that your information is
even more secure, once we receive your credit card information, we store it on
a server that is not accessible from the Internet.
Credit card transactions are handled by a third-party
financial institution, which receives the credit card number and other personal
identifying information only to verify the credit card numbers and process
transactions. If you feel more comfortable doing so, our Web site also provides
options to order information by telephone or to download an order form that can
be faxed or mailed.
Links to Other Sites
Our Web sites have links to many other organizations.
Once you follow a link to any other site, you are subject to its privacy
policy.
Your Consent
By using our Web sites, you consent to the collection
and use of this information by NHLBI as described in this document. If we
decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this page so
that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and
under what circumstances we disclose it.
Intrusion Detection
This site is maintained 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 employ software programs to 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.
Questions about NHLBI privacy policies should be sent
to the NHLBI Privacy Act Officer.
Questions about NHLBI Web Site privacy policies should be sent to
the NHLBI
Internet Policy Coordinator.
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