Privacy Policy

Business.gov collects no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide this information to us. If you choose to provide this information to us, it will be used for the expressed purpose for which it was intended, such as responding to your request for information or joining a web discussion forum.

Business.gov collects some technical information from you when you visit the site in order to give you the best possible experience. The section below explains how we handle and collect technical information when you visit our website.

Technical Information Collected and Stored Automatically

Business.gov automatically records website usage information that we analyze statistically to track operational problems, to prevent fraud and to improve the effectiveness, security and integrity of the site. This information does not identify you personally and we do not use this information to track or record information about individuals. For each page that you visit, we collect and store only the following technical information:

• Date and time of access
• URL address of the Business.gov webpage visited
• Internet domain and IP address from which our website was accessed
• Type of browser and operating system used to access our site (if provided by the browser)
• URL address of the referring page (if provided by the browser)
• Completion or success status of the request for a web page or other on-line item
• File size of the webpage visited

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

Cookies

When you visit some websites, their web servers generate files of information known as cookies, which helps webmasters understand how users interact with their site's content and services. Websites use cookies to track one's activities on a website (e.g., pages visited, links clicked on, etc.), and to record information about the user so when the user returns the site, customized features can be provided.

There are two types of cookies. A session cookie is a line of text that is stored temporarily in your computer's random access memory (RAM) and is only available for the duration of an active browsing session. A session cookie is not placed on any hard drive, and it is destroyed as soon as you close your browser. A persistent cookie is saved to a file on your hard drive and is accessed whenever you re-visit the website that put it there. This lets that website remember what you were interested in the last time you visited.

Business.gov does not use persistent cookies, but sometimes uses session cookies. Some of the interactive sections of our website may set session cookies in temporary memory in order to provide streamlined navigation. These session cookies are not stored on your computer's hard drive permanently and are automatically erased as soon as you close your browser. Information from these session cookies is not collected or saved.

Information Collected from Interactive Forms

Business.gov provides interactive forms that let you voluntarily submit personal information (such as your e-mail address, name, or organization). This occurs when you register to join an online community to submit information to web discussion forums, blogs and other community features; registering to receive e-mail updates and newsletters; and sending questions and comments to the Business.gov team. In these cases, all submitted information is used only for the express purposes for which it is intended, and is not made available to any third party. Business.gov only shares information you voluntarily provide with other government agencies if required by law. Business.gov never collects information or creates individual profiles for commercial marketing. However, when you join an online community and participate in online discussions, your name and other personal information you provide (except e-mail) are viewable by anyone visiting Business.gov, unless you choose not share this information with the public on your user profile page.

Children's Privacy

Because we care about the safety and privacy of children online, we comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). COPPA and its accompanying FTC regulation establish United States federal law that protects the privacy of children using the Internet. Business.gov does not knowingly contact or collect personal information from children under 13. Business.gov is not intended to solicit information of any kind from children under 13.

It is possible that by fraud or deception we may receive information pertaining to children under 13. If we are notified of this, as soon as we verify the information, we will immediately obtain parental consent or otherwise delete the information from our servers. If you want to notify us of our receipt of information by children under 13, please do so by using the contact us form.

Site Security

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs commercial software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users and 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.

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 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

Links to Other Sites

Business.gov contains links to websites of other government, public and private organizations that are outside of our control. When you follow a link to another site, you leave the Business.gov site and your website interactions are no longer protected by our privacy policy. Business.gov is not responsible for, and does not endorse the privacy or security practices and content of sites to which Business.gov links.

Changes to This Policy

Changes to this policy: We will revise or update this policy if our practices change, or as we develop better ways to keep you informed about them. You should refer back to this page often for the latest information and the effective date of any changes. If we decide to change this policy, we will post a new policy on our site and change the date at the bottom. Changes to the policy shall not apply retroactively.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

Your Rights Under the Privacy Act

The Federal Citizen Information Center provides a guide to Your Rights to Federal Records - Questions and Answers on the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act that explains your rights to personal information under these laws.

 This policy was updated on February 11, 2009