Privacy Policy

Your privacy is very important to us. Our privacy policy is plain and simple. We do not collect personal information when you visit WebContent.gov. If you choose to provide that information to us, it is only used to fulfill your request for information, to register for Web Manager University, or to participate as a member of the Web Content Managers Forum, a professional networking site for government web professionals.

We do collect some technical information on WebContent.gov. We explain below how we handle and collect technical information when you visit our website.

Technical Information Collected and Stored Automatically

When you browse, read pages, or download information on WebContent.gov, we automatically gather and store certain technical information about your visit. This information never identifies who you are. The information we collect and store about your visit is listed below:

The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the web) from which you access our website
The type of browser (for example, Netscape, Internet Explorer, Firefox) and operating system (Windows, Unix) used to access our site
The date and time you access our site
The pages you visit
The address of the previous website if you linked to Webcontent.gov from another website

This information is only used to help us make the site more useful to you. With this aggregate data, we learn about the number of visits to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. We never track or record information about individuals and their visits.

When you visit some websites, their web servers generate pieces of information known as persistent cookies. Some cookies collect personal information to recognize your computer in the future.

WebContent.gov (www.usa.gov/webcontent/) has a permit from the Office of Management and Budget allowing us to use persistent or "blocking" cookies within the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey.

The survey is delivered randomly to WebContent.gov visitors as a pop up questionnaire. Answers to the survey help us improve the site—making it easier to use and more responsive to the needs of our visitors.

Cookies will:

Block the repeated delivery of the survey either in the current visit or in any subsequent visit
Record only that the visitor had the opportunity to answer the survey questions
Expire 45 days after being set
Reduce the burden on visitors to the site by avoiding repeated delivery of the pop-up survey

Cookies will not:

Collect any information about visitors
Track the web surfing activities of visitors
Indicate whether a visitor answered any questions
Link a particular visitor to any response or set of responses

You may adjust the settings on your web browser to refuse cookies, or you may delete the cookie whenever you wish. Refusing or removing the cookie will not impact your visit to WebContent.gov, except that you may experience repeated delivery of the WebContent.gov ACSI survey.

We also use per-session cookies on WebContent.gov to serve technical purposes, like providing seamless navigation. These cookies do not permanently record data and they are not stored on your computer's hard drive. Our cookies are stored in memory and are only used while you're visiting our site. Again, once you close your browser, the cookie disappears.

If You Send Us Personal Information

If you choose to provide us with personal information (for example, if you complete a Contact Us form with an email address and Zip Code and submit it to us through the website or sign up for email updates), we use that information to respond to you and to help us get you the information you've requested.

We only share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. We never create individual profiles or give your information to any private organizations. USA.gov and Webcontent.gov never collect information for commercial marketing.

While you must provide an e-mail or mailing address for a personal response, we recommend that you not include any other personal information, especially Social Security numbers. The Social Security Administration offers additional guidance on sharing your Social Security number.

Web Manager University

If you're registering for Web Manager University classes, you'll be taken to another website, www.register123.com, managed by PCI Communications, Inc. PCI Communications is the vendor who is handles registration and collects fees for all classes, on behalf of the General Services Administration, which manages Web Manager University and WebContent.gov. Any information you provide on www.register123.com will be collected on a secure server and will not be shared with any outside parties or used for commercial marketing.

Web Content Managers Forum

The Web Content Managers Forum is available from WebContent.gov at forum.webcontent.gov and is also managed by the U.S. General Services Administration.

Membership in the Forum is voluntary. To register, you must create a password-protected profile with your contact information (name, address, email address, and more). In addition to the privacy policy stated here, your privacy is also governed by the privacy policy of YourMembership.com, the hosting vendor for the Forum's online community. Any information you provide on forum.webcontent.gov will be collected on a secure server and will not be shared with any outside parties or used for commercial marketing.

If you have questions regarding this privacy policy, please contact us at: webcontenttoolkit@gsa.gov

Content Lead: Natalie Davidson

Page Updated or Reviewed: March 17, 2008