Department of Transportation's Maritime
Administration Privacy Policy
Content Updated December 15, 2003
Thank you for visiting the
Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration
Web site. We are committed to respecting your right to privacy and
will protect it when you visit our Web site.
This Privacy Policy explains
our online information practices only, including how we collect and use
your personal information. It covers information collected on this
Maritime Administration Web site. Our Privacy
Policy does not apply to third party Web sites that you are able to reach
from our Web site, nor does it cover practices of other elements within
the Department of Transportation. We encourage you to read the Privacy
Policies of those elements and third parties to learn how they collect and
use information about you.
To assist you with reading our
Privacy Policy, we have provided answers to the following questions you
may find most important:
What information do we collect automatically online?
What additional information do
we collect about you online?
Why do we collect your
information online and how do we use it?
How, and with whom, do we share
the information we collect online?
Do we give you choices on how
we use the information you provide us?
What are our information
practices for children?
Do we use cookies or other
tracking devices?
How do we secure your
information we collect online?
What are your rights under the
Privacy Act of 1974?
How do
you find out more about, or comment on, our privacy practices?
What information do we
collect automatically online?
When you visit our Web site, we collect information about your visit that
does not identify you personally. We can tell the type of computer,
browser, and Web service you are using. We also know the date, time, and
pages you visit. Collecting this information helps us design the site to
suit your needs.
What additional
information do we collect about you online?
When you visit our Web site, we may request and collect the following
categories of personal information from you:
Why do we collect
information online and how do we use it?
Our principal purpose for collecting personal information online is to
provide you with the information you need and want, and to facilitate the
use of our Web site.
We will only use your
information for the purposes for which you have provided this information,
or for the purposes required under the law. (In order to learn more about
how we provide choices to you regarding our use of your information, visit
the “Choices” section in this Privacy Policy.)
Generally, our uses of
information collected online include:
How, and with whom, do
we share the information we collect online?
We may share personally identifiable information you provide to us online
with appropriate representatives within the Department of Transportation
(see
http://www.dot.gov/DOTagencies.htm for information on DOT Operating
Administrations and related entities), other federal government agencies,
or other designated representatives as needed to facilitate your request
or transaction.
Additionally, we may be
required by law to share information we collect with authorized law
enforcement, homeland security, and national security activities (See also
the “What are your rights under the Privacy Act of 1974?” section in this
Privacy Policy).
Do we give you choices
on how we use the information you provide us?
Throughout our Web site, we will let you know whether the information we
ask you to provide is voluntary or required. By providing personally
identifiable information, you are granting us consent to use this
personally identifiable information for the primary purpose for which you
are providing it. Additionally, we will ask for you to grant us consent
before using your voluntarily provided information for any secondary
purposes, other than those required under the law.
What are our
information practices for children?
Although our Web site has a children
area at
http://www.marad.dot.gov/kids/, we do not collect any personal
information there. The are is for educational purposes only. If we choose
to collect personal information from children, we will comply with the
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). To find out more about
COPPA, please click on the following link:
www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens.html.
Do we use cookies or
other tracking devices?
A “cookie” is a small text file that is stored on your computer and makes
it easy for you to move around a Web site without having to continually
re-enter your name, password, preferences, etc.
We use only “session” cookies;
this means we store the cookie on your computer only during each visit to
our Web site. After you turn off your computer or stop using the Internet,
the cookie is erased and nothing will be remembered the next time you
visit our Web site.
How do we secure your
information we collect online?
We are committed to properly securing the information we collect online.
To help us accomplish this, we take the following steps:
-
We employ internal
access controls to ensure that the only people who see your information
are those with a need to do so to perform their official duties;
-
We train relevant
personnel on our privacy and security measures so that our personnel
know what is required for compliance;
-
We physically secure
the areas where we hold hard copies of the information we collect
online;
-
We regularly back up
the information we collect online to insure against loss;
-
We use technical
controls to secure the information we collect online as appropriate,
including but not limited to: Secure Socket Layer (SSL), encryption,
firewalls, password protections;
-
We periodically test
our security procedures to ensure personnel and technical compliance;
and
-
We employ external access safeguards to
identify and prevent unauthorized attempts of outsiders to hack into, or
cause harm to, the information in our systems.
Tampering with the
Maritime Administration's Web site is against
the law. If anyone tries to tamper with it, they may be punished under the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information
Infrastructure Protection Act.
What are your rights
under the Privacy Act of 1974?
The Privacy Act of 1974 protects the personal information the federal
government keeps on you in “systems of records (SOR)” (information an
agency controls that can be retrieved by name or some other personal
identifier). The Privacy Act regulates how the government can disclose,
share, provide access to, and maintain the personal information that it
collects. Not all information collected online is covered by the Privacy
Act.
The Act’s major provisions
require agencies to:
-
Publish a Privacy Act Notice in the
Federal Register explaining the existence, character and uses of a new
or revised SOR;
-
Keep information about you accurate,
relevant, timely, and complete to assure fairness in dealing with you;
and
-
Allow you to, upon request, access and
review your information held in a SOR and request amendment of the
information if you disagree with it.
When the
Maritime Administration collects information from you online that
is subject to the Privacy Act (i.e., information to be kept in a SOR), we
will provide you, through a link on the Web page from which we collect
information, access to our Privacy Act Notice. This Privacy
Act Notice will inform you what portion of the information is
maintained and retrieved by your name or other personal identifier.
Each Privacy Act Notice
will also notify you of the following:
-
The authority for and purpose and use of
the collection of information subject to the Privacy Act;
-
Whether providing the information is
voluntary or mandatory; and
-
The effects on you if you do not provide
any or all of the requested information.
Click here to view our
Privacy Act Notices
How do you find out
more about, or comment on, our privacy practices?
For more information on our privacy practices, or for comments and
concerns, please contact our Privacy Officer at:
Email:
Kelly Farrell
Phone: (202) 366-9041 |