Privacy Policy

Data.gov is committed to protecting the privacy and security of visitors to this website. Outlined below is the Data.gov online privacy policy. If you have questions about this policy, please let us know.

Collection and disclosure of information: In order for us to communicate effectively with visitors to Data.gov, providing your email address is optional to allow feedback. If you provide an email address on any of the text boxes available on this website (i.e., "Comment on this Data", "Contact Us", "Suggest a Dataset"), your email address will not be stored or retrieved by the Data.gov system. A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was completed stating that Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will not be collected on the Data.Gov system; therefore, a system of records notice (SORN) is not required. Email addresses received on the aforementioned forms are directed to a federally managed email system, which meets all appropriate requirements. The Information Collection approval number for Data.gov is 3090-0284.

Online Comments and Personal Information: Any comments you provide are categorized as public information. Compilations of your comments may be provided to national leaders (without email address) and other individuals participating in Data.gov efforts. Comments may also be made available online to the public without the use of any optionally provided email addresses.

Browser information collected on the web site: Ratings of datasets are collected to track the usefulness of certain datasets and improve the value of Data.gov. Data.gov does not gather, request, record, require, collect or track any Internet users' personal information through these processes.

Cookies: A cookie is a tiny piece of data stored by a user's browser that helps a website or service recognized that user's unique computer. You can remove or block cookies by changing the settings of your browser.

Session specific cookies may be used on Data.gov to improve the user experience and for basic web metrics. These cookies expire in a very short time frame or when a browser window closes and are permitted by current Federal guidelines.

The Federal Government has guidelines for the use of persistent cookies. The goals of the guidelines are to enable the useful functioning of Federal websites while protecting individual privacy. Data.gov does not use persistent cookies.

Children's privacy: Data.gov complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) that helps to protect the safety and privacy of children online. COPPA and its accompanying FTC regulation constitutes United States Federal law that protects the privacy of children using the Internet. Personal information from children under 13 is not knowingly collected, nor are children under 13 knowingly contacted by Data.gov. Data.gov does not intend to solicit information of any kind from children under 13. It is possible that Data.gov may receive emails pertaining to children under 13. If Data.gov is notified of this, as soon as the information is verified, parental consent will be immediately obtained or the email will be deleted from the email box servicing Data.gov.

Security: A variety of physical, electronic and procedural safeguards are maintained to protect information. For example, commercially reasonable tools and techniques are used to protect against unauthorized access to Data.gov systems. Data.gov has been Certified and Accredited (C&A) by the General Services Administration (GSA). Also, access to email received is restricted to those who need such access in the course of their duties for Data.gov.

Linking: Data.gov may contain links to websites created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. Data.gov provides these links as a service to our users. When users link to an outside website, they are leaving the Data.gov site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website(s). The Data.gov linking policy is the same as the USA.gov Linking Policy.

Changes to this policy: The Data.gov privacy policy will be revised or updated if practices change, or if better ways to keep you informed are developed. You should refer to this page often for the latest information and the effective date of any changes. If changes are made to this policy, a new policy will be posted on our site and the date at the bottom of the page will be updated. Changes to the policy will not apply retroactively.

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

May 21, 2009