document: title: privacy policy
text: (as of September 2, 2010)

Thank you for visiting our HHS website and for reviewing our Privacy Policy. Our policy is clear: 

  * We collect no personally identifiable information (PII) about you unless you choose to provide that information to us.
  * Any PII you chose to provide is fully protected.
  * Non-PII information related to your visit to our websites may be automatically collected and temporarily stored.



(NOTE: For more information on your health information privacy and security rights or the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, please visit http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/index.html.)

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#### Types of Information Collected

When you browse through any website, information about your visit can be collected. We automatically collect and temporarily store the following information about your visit:

  * the name of the domain you use to access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are using an American Online account, or stanford.edu, if you are connecting from Stanford University's domain); 
  * the date and time of your visit; 
  * the pages you visited; and 
  * the address of the website you came from when you came to visit. 



We use Google Analytics to collect and aggregate this information to create reports and analyses, which are used to help us make our site more useful to visitors. These data and reports are only available to web managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. HHS retains the data from Google Analytics as long as needed to support HHS' mission. Again, there is no PII included in this data.

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#### Session and Persistent Cookies

When visiting websites, a small text file called a "cookie" may be placed on your computer. This allows HHS to collect non-PII data while you are navigating through the website. HHS uses two types of cookies on its websites:

  * Session cookies are temporary text files that expire when you leave our websites. When cookies expire, they are automatically deleted from your computer.

  * Persistent cookies are multi-session cookies that are stored on your computer and expire 2 years after your last visit to our websites. After 2 years, they are automatically deleted from your computer. We use persistent cookies to collect non-PII data about users who frequently visit our websites and to test variations of our site design and content to optimize our webpages. In the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memo 10-22 Guidance, our use of persistent cookies is defined as "Usage Tier 2 � Multi-session without Personally Identifiable Information (PII)," which "encompasses any use of multi-session Web measurement and customization technologies when no PII is collected."




If you do not want cookies placed on your computer, you can set your browser to block them. Blocking these cookies from your computer will not affect your access to the content and tools in our websites. Instructions to opt out are available on http://www.usa.gov/optout_instructions.shtml.

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#### Personally Provided Information

You do not have to give us personal information to visit our web sites.

If you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself through an e-mail message, form, survey, etc., we will only retain the information as long as needed to respond to your question or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication.

However, note that all communications addressed to HHS are maintained, as required by law, for historical purposes. These communications are archived on a monthly basis. All communications addressed to HHS are protected by the Privacy Act which restricts our use of them, yet permits certain disclosures.

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#### Third-Party Applications

There may be third-party applications and/or services embedded on this site to improve its functionality. Our integration of these products is intended to provide a seamless user experience. Where applicable, privacy policies particular to these applications are provided.

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#### Disclosure

HHS does not disclose, give, sell or transfer any personal information about our visitors, unless required for law enforcement or by statute.

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#### Intrusion Detection

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

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

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#### Systems of Records

Some information originally collected through traditional paper systems can now be submitted electronically, i.e., electronic commerce transactions and information updates about eligibility benefits. Electronically submitted information is maintained and destroyed pursuant to the Federal Records Act, and in some cases may be subject to the Privacy Act. If information that you submit is to be used in a Privacy Act system of records, there will be a Privacy Act Notice provided.

#### HHS Data Council's HHS Privacy Committee

Last Updated: September 2, 2010