Privacy Policy

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.

• The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.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 Web) from which you access our Web site.
• The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
• The date and time you access our site;
• The pages you visit; and
• If you linked to our Web site from another Web site, the address of that Web site.

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 link: http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foiprivacyact.htm

Thank you for visiting NASA and reviewing our policy notices. We have integrated these statements into a single posting for ease of use. The following links will help you navigate to a specific section:

• Privacy Policy
• Security Notice
• Accessibility Statement
• Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement
• Privacy Impact Assessment
• NASA Officials for Privacy Related Matters

Privacy Policy

This notice provides NASA's policy regarding the nature, purpose, use and sharing of any information collected via this Web site. The information you provide on a NASA Web site will be used only for its intended purpose. We will protect your information consistent with the principles of the Privacy Act, the e-Government act of 2002, the Federal Records Act, and as applicable, the Freedom of Information Act.

Submitting information is strictly voluntary. By doing so, you are giving NASA your permission to use the information for the intended purpose. If you do not want to give NASA permission to use your information, simply do not provide it. However, not providing certain information may result in NASA's inability to provide you with the information or services you desire.

There are several types of information we collect. These include:

1. Automatically Collected Information
2. Information Collected for Tracking and Customization (Cookies)
3. Personal Information
4. Information from Children

NASA never collects information for commercial marketing. We will only share your information with another government agency if it relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. NASA never creates individual profiles or gives your information to any private organization.

Automatically Collected Information

We collect and temporarily store certain technical information about your visit for use in site management and security purposes. This information includes:

1. The Internet domain from which you access our Web site (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from an educational domain);
2. The IP address (a unique number for each computer connected to the Internet) from which you access our Web site;
3. The type of browser (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer) used to access our site;
4. The operating system (Windows, Unix) used to access our site;
5. The date and time you access our site;
6. The URLs of the pages you visit;
7. Your username, if it was used to log in to the Web site; and
8. If you visited this NASA Web site from another Web site, the URL of the forwarding site.

This information is only used to help us make our site more useful for you. With this data we learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are retained temporarily as required for security and site management purposes only.

Information Collected for Tracking and Customization (Cookies)

A cookie is a small file that a Web site transfers to your computer to allow it to remember specific information about your session while you are connected. Your computer will only share the information in the cookie with the Web site that provided it, and no other Web site can request it. There are two types of cookies, session and persistent. Session cookies last only as long as your Web browser is open. Once you close your browser, the cookie disappears. Persistent cookies store information on your computer for longer periods of time.

NASA Web sites may use session cookies for technical purposes such as to enable better navigation through the site, or to allow you to customize your preferences for interacting with the site. A few NASA Web sites may also make use of persistent cookies to remember you between visits so, for example, you can save your customized preference settings for future visits. Each NASA site using persistent cookies identifies itself as doing so.

At no time is your private information, whether stored in persistent cookies or elsewhere, shared with third parties who have no right to that information. If you do not wish to have session or persistent cookies stored on your machine, you can turn them off in your browser. However, this may affect the functioning of some NASA Web sites.

Personal Information

If you choose to provide us with personal information, through such methods as completing a form or sending us an email, we will use that information to respond to your message and to help us get you the information or services you have requested.

Remember that email isn't necessarily secure. You should never send sensitive or personal information like your Social Security number in an email. Use postal mail or secure Web sites instead.

Some of our Web sites ask visitors who request specific information to fill out a registration form. For example, vendors looking for marketing opportunities by visiting our NASA Acquisition Internet Service site may be asked to register to obtain email notices of business opportunities. Other information collected at Web sites through questionnaires, feedback forms, or other means, enables us to determine visitors' interests, with the goal of providing better service to our customers.

Interaction with Children

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) governs information gathering online from or about children under the age of 13. Verifiable consent from a child's parent or guardian is required before collecting, using, or disclosing personal information from a child under the age of 13.

We collect no information about you or your child, other than that detailed in the previous section, when you visit our web site unless you choose to provide information to us. When a NASA Web site needs to collect information about a child under 13 years old, COPPA required information and instructions will be provided by the specific Web page that collects information about the child. The Web page will specify exactly what the information will be used for, who will see it, and how long it will be kept.

There are several exceptions that permit collection of a child's email address without receiving parental consent in advance:

• To provide the parents with notice and to seek consent for communications with the child. Note: this may require collection of the parent's email address as well.
• To respond to a one time request from a child.
• To respond more than once to a child's request; i.e., subscription to a newsletter. However, parental consent is required prior to the second communication.
• To protect the safety of a child who is participating on the site; i.e., in a chat room.
• To protect the site or to respond to law enforcement; i.e., in the case of a Web site compromise.

Personal information about children under 13 years of age may be needed to respond to his/her communication to us, such as to receive a poster or to acquire information for a school project. Personal information about your child will be destroyed immediately upon completion of its intended purpose. On rare occasions, it may be determined that a communication from a child under 13 years old should be maintained for historical purposes. Should such an occasion occur, NASA will obtain the necessary consent from the child's parent.

Finally, we provide many on-line tools and services in support of NASA's mission. A child under 13 years old may inadvertently provide personal information to one of these services. If this should happen, the information about the child will be deleted immediately upon discovery.

Web Site Security Notice

For site security purposes and to ensure that this Web service remains available to all users, this Government computer system employs software programs that monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information,. Anyone using this system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that 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 NASA servers are strictly prohibited and may be punishable by law, including under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996.

Accessibility Statement

We continually strive to ensure the pages on this Web site are accessible to individuals with disabilities in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you have any difficulty viewing any page with adaptive technology, please contact the webmaster for this site, or the Center Section 508 Coordinator.

Documents on NASA Web sites are presented in many formats. These formats are generally accessible to users using screen reading software. Some files on this Web site may be posted as Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) files. Adobe provides their Acrobat Reader software as a free download.

Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement

NASA links to many Web sites created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. NASA provides links to these sites as a service to our users. The presence of a link is not a NASA endorsement of the site.

When users follow a link to an outside Web site, they are leaving NASA and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside Web site(s). NASA is not responsible for the information collection practices of non-NASA sites.

NASA Privacy Impact Assessment

NASA Officials for Privacy Related Matters

NASA Senior Agency Official for Privacy
Jonathan Q. Pettus (Acting)
Chief Information Officer

NASA Agency Privacy Act Officer
Patti F. Stockman
NASA Privacy Act Officer
NASA Office of the Chief Information Officer
NASA Headquarters
Washington, DC 20546-0001

Contact: 202-358-4787
Email: patti.stockman@nasa.gov

Date of publication: March, 2007.