The external links provided on this site are not endorsed by the Department of Commerce (DOC)/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Norfolk Regional Center (NRC). NRC does not provide editorial control or hold responsibility with information/data found at these locations. DOC/NOAA/NRC provides the links to assess additional information helpful for the content provided.
We are committed to the privacy of our visitors. We collect no personal information about you when you visit our Web site unless you choose to provide that information to us.Here is how we handle information about your visit to our Web site.
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 information like the following concerning your visit.
We
use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors
to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of
technology our visitors use.
Information Protection
For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains
available to all users, this government computer system employs software
programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts
to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. If such
monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity,
such evidence may be provided to appropriate law enforcement officials.
Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this server
are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud
and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure
Protection Act or other law.
Information
That You Voluntarily Provide
We do not collect personally-identifiable information unless you choose
to provide it to us. If you provide us with personally identifiable
information, for example by sending an e-mail or by filling out a
form and submitting it through our Web site, we use that information
only to respond to your message and to help us provide you with the
information and services that you request. Submitting
voluntary information constitutes your consent to the use of the information
for the stated purpose. When a user clicks the "Submit" button on any of the Web forms found on our site they are indicating
voluntary consent to use of the information they submit for the stated
purpose. We do not collect or use information for commercial marketing.
How
Information is Used
The information we collect is used for a variety of purposes (e.g.,
comments on proposed rules, license applications, to respond to requests
for information about our regulations and policies and to fill orders).
We make every effort to disclose clearly how information is used at
the point where it is collected so that our users can determine for
themselves whether they wish to provide the information.
Sharing
of Information
We may share the information you give us with another government agency
if your inquiry relates to that agency. In other limited circumstances,
such as responses to requests from Congress and private individuals,
we may be required by law to disclose information you submit. Before
you submit personally identifiable information, such as on an online
form, you will be advised as to the purpose and how the information
will be used.
Retention
of Information
We destroy the information we collect when the purpose for which it
was provided has been fulfilled unless we are required to keep it
longer by statute or official policy. Electronically submitted information
is maintained and destroyed according to the principles of the Federal
Records Act and the regulations and records schedules approved by
the National Archives and Records Administration, and in some cases
information submitted to us may become an agency record and therefore
might be subject to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Links
to Other Sites
This site may have links to the Web sites of other federal agencies.
There may be links to private organizations, with their permission.
Once you go to another site, you are subject to the privacy policy
of the new site. It is always a good idea to read the Privacy Policy
of any Web site that you visit.
Cookies
"Cookies" are small bits of text that are either used for
the duration of a session ("session cookies"), or saved
on a user's hard drive in order to identify that user, or information
about that user, the next time the user logs on to a Web site ("persistent
cookies"). This Web site does not use persistent cookies or any
other persistent tracking technology. One or more of our component
sites may use session cookies to provide streamlined navigation. These
session cookies are deleted from the component's server after your
session ends and information from them is not collected or saved.
Interaction
with Children
This Web site may offer educational content to children under 13.
No personally identifiable information is collected from them unless
voluntarily submitted as a request for information or services. The
information collected is used to respond to user inquiries or to provide
services requested by our users.
Your
Rights Under the Privacy Act
More information about the Privacy Act can be found at the following
off-site links.
The photos used in this web site are from the NOAA Photo Library.