Privacy Policy
Overview
At NCCOS, we are
committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors. As the internet and associated
technologies evolve, so will our policies. Please review these notices frequently
for the most up-to-date information.
We collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you
choose to provide that information to us. When you browse through our websites,
read pages, or download information, we gather and store certain information about
your visit automatically. However, this information does not identify you personally.
We automatically collect and store information such as the following concerning your
visit:
- The Internet domain (for example, "examplesite.com" - if you use a private Internet
access account, or "yourschool.edu" - if you connect from a university's domain);
- Your IP address (an IP address is a number
that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Internet)
from which you access our website;
- The type and viewport dimensions of your browser, and operating system used to access
our site;
- The date and time you access our site;
- The pages you visit; and
- Whether or not you came to our website from another website, and if so, the address
of that website.
We use this information to help us make our websites more useful to visitors, to
learn about the number of visitors to our site, and the types of technology our
visitors use.
Information Protection
In order to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government
computer system employs software programs which monitor network traffic to identify
unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, and/or otherwise cause damage.
If our monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, this evidence
may be provided to appropriate law enforcement officials. Unauthorized attempts
to upload or change information on our servers 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 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 websites,
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 forms found on our websites, 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 We Collect 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.
Interaction with Children
NCCOS websites may offer educational content to children under the age of 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.
Cookies And/Or Session Cookies
NCCOS websites use
session cookies (a cookie is a small data file sent from our server
to your browser and then back to our server again) to improve our site design and
ease of access by noting the pages you visit as you move through our site. Session
cookies are deleted when you close your browser.
NCCOS websites do
not use persistent cookies or any other persistent tracking technology.
However, our websites use Google Analytics,
a tool that provides basic information
about website visitors and trends. Please note that this third party service
will
place a file on your computer so that it can recognize if you visit coastalscience.noaa.gov
in the future.
In addition, 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.
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.
Google Analytics
NCCOS' websites use
Google Analytics,
a third-party web measurement and customization technology
as defined and organized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), "Guidance
for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies" (OMB M-10-22).
Google Analytics places a small file on your computer, commonly called a "cookie,"
so that it can recognize your computer if you visit coastalscience.noaa.gov (or
one of our property web sites) in the
future. This cookie does not collect personal identifying information. This is considered
a Tier 2 service in the OMB
guidance.
Google Analytics does not collect personally identifiable information through their
cookie and does not combine, match, or cross-reference coastalscience.noaa.gov information
with any other information. Please review Google's
privacy policy for additional information.
Visitors who choose to disable this web measurement will still have full access to
NCCOS websites.
While the details vary from browser to browsers, most modern
browsers can be set up to accept, reject, or request user intervention when a site
asks to set a cookie. Google Analytics uses a cookie that begins with: _utm
Your Rights Under the Privacy Act
The Privacy Act of 1974 provides safeguards against invasion of personal privacy through the misuse of records by Federal Agencies.
The Privacy Act was passed in 1974 to establish controls over what personal information is collected, maintained, used and disseminated by agencies in the executive branch of the Federal government.
The Privacy Act guarantees three primary rights:
- The right to see records about oneself, subject to Privacy Act exemptions;
- The right to request the amendment of records that are not accurate, relevant, timely or complete; and
- The right of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasion of their privacy resulting from the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information.
If you are a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, you may make a request for personal information on yourself under the Privacy Act. Go to USA.gov for more information, http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference-Shelf/FOIA.shtml.