Privacy Policy
These web pages are provided as a public service by NOAA Great Lakes
Environmental Research Laboratory.
We are committed to the privacy of our visitors. If you have any questions
or comments about the information presented here, please forward them
to www.glerl@noaa.gov.
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, "ncompany.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 Federal Privacy Act
More information about the Privacy Act can be found at the following
off-site link. http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foiprivacyact.htm
or http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/fed_prog/foia/foia.htm
See also: NOAA Privacy Policy http://www.noaa.gov/privacy.html