About FDA

Website Policies

Privacy Statement
Links to Other Sites
Web Site Content
Information Quality
Linking To or Copying Information On the FDA Website
Pop-Up Advertisements
Intrusion Detection
Contact Information

Privacy Statement

Introduction

Thanks for visiting FDA’s Web site. Our privacy policy outlines the information we learn when you visit our site and how we use this information.

We receive two types of information when you visit our site:

information automatically collected
information you choose to provide

Information Automatically Collected

When you visit a Web site, certain personal information about you can be collected automatically. When you browse through our site, read pages, or download information, we collect certain information to measure how many visitors come to the different parts of the site so we can make the site more useful.

Example: We use browser information to help us design our site so the greatest number of people can view the pages correctly.

For every visitor, we collect and temporarily store the following information:

your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, a number automatically assigned to your computer when you go on the Web.
the domain from which you access the Internet

Example: aol.com, for an America Online account

the Web site address from which you came to our site

Example: www.hhs.gov if you came by clicking an FDA link on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' site

the date and time you arrived at our site and how long you spent there
the name and version of your computer's operating system and browser Example: Windows 2000/Netscape 7.0
the pages you visited.

"Session Cookies"

Some services on our Web site use "session cookies." These are:

small bits of text temporarily stored in your computer
used to aid searching and navigating the site
deleted when you close your browser.

Note: If you disable cookies in your browser, it may cause problems with searching and displaying information.

Information You Choose to Provide

We collect and store no other information about you when you visit our site unless you choose to provide it. For example:

If you send us an e-mail or submit an online form, we do not automatically receive your e-mail address. However, you will need to provide it to us if you would like an e-mail response. We will receive no other personally identifying information from your e-mail unless you provide it.
If you submit a form on our Web site, we will receive only the personal information you include in the form.
Children's Privacy: We collect no information from children under 13. If a child sends us an e-mail inquiry or comment, we will answer it, then delete the e-mail from our files.

FDA Information Disclosure Policy

FDA will not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about our visitors unless it is required:

by law
for law enforcement reasons.

Other possible uses of your information:

We will only use personal identifying information to respond to you, in which case various people may need to see the information you provide in order to provide a response to you. If enough questions or comments come in that are the same, your question (but not your name) may be added to our Questions and Answers section. We use this information to help us improve our site.
We may enter information you send into an electronic database to share with attorneys or investigators involved in law enforcement or policy-making.
We may share information with other government agencies that have public health or consumer protection duties, in which case FDA or any of those agencies may contact you. In other limited circumstances, including requests from Congress or private individuals, we may be required by law to disclose information you submit.

Note: E-mail is not necessarily secure against interception. If your communication is sensitive, or if it includes personal information such as your social security number, you can send it by postal mail instead.

Links to Other Sites

Our Web site has links to many other federal agencies, and, in a few cases, to private organizations, foreign governments and international organizations. You should be aware that:

If you access another site through a link we provide, you are subject to the privacy policy of that site.

Reference in this referred Web site to commercial products, services, manufacturers, or companies does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. government, the Department of Health and Human Services, or FDA.

FDA is not responsible for the contents of any pages referred from its Web site.

Web Site Content

The health and medical information on our Web site is not intended to take the place of advice or treatment from healthcare professionals. It is also not intended to substitute for the users' relationships with their own health care/pharmaceutical providers.

The Code of Federal Regulations is the authoritative source for FDA regulations.

Information Quality

FDA is dedicated to:

ensuring that all information it publishes reflects a level of quality corresponding to the nature and timeliness of the information

disseminating all its data as broadly and promptly as possible so that the public can benefit from FDA's mission to promote and protect the public health.

Note: In keeping with this commitment and in accordance with Public Law 106-554 and Office of Management and Budget requirements, HHS and FDA have developed information quality guidelines establishing quality assurance policies, standards, and processes.

The HHS guidelines are available at http://www.hhs.gov/infoquality/.

Linking To or Copying Information On the FDA Website

Unless otherwise noted, the contents of the FDA Web site (www.fda.gov)--both text and graphics--are not copyrighted. They are in the public domain and may be republished, reprinted and otherwise used freely by anyone without the need to obtain permission from FDA. Credit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the source is appreciated but not required.

People are also free to link to any URL on FDA's site. FDA's preference is that people link to the material on the FDA site (rather than copying it to their personal Web sites) because the agency continuously updates the information on the Web site as better information becomes available. A person copying documents to another Web site, instead of linking to them, would then have to monitor the original documents to know when these documents were updated by FDA or else risk giving bad or incorrect advice to visitors to their Web site. Providing consumers or health professionals with advice that is not fully up to date can lead to serious public health consequences. Providing industry advice that is not fully up to date can lead to companies being out of compliance with regulatory requirements.

If a person, nonetheless, decides to copy content or images, FDA strongly recommends that the copied item lists the date that the material was copied and provides a link back to its source on the FDA Web site. Users can then see for themselves if the copied material has been updated or changed.

FDA appreciates being informed about the use of Web site materials. Contact FDA, HFI-50, Rockville, MD 20857 or e-mail webmail@oc.fda.gov.

Pop-Up Advertisements

When visiting our web site, your Web browser may produce pop-up advertisements. These advertisements were most likely produced by other Web sites you visited or by third-party software installed on your computer. FDA doesn’t produce pop-up ads and doesn’t endorse or recommend products or services for which you may view a pop-up ad on your computer screen while visiting our site.

Intrusion Detection

This site is maintained by the U.S. government and protected by various provisions of Title 18 of the U.S. Code. Violations of Title 18 are subject to criminal prosecution in federal court.

For site security purposes and to ensure that the site remains available to all users, we employ software programs that monitor traffic and 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.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or comments about the FDA website, you can contact us by:

calling 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332)
sending a fax to 301-827-1682
writing to: FDA (HFI-50), Rockville, MD 20857

using our on-line comment form.

Español