Privacy and Security Notice

1. The USDA APHIS Website is provided as a public service by APHIS' Legislative and Public Affairs and the Information Technology community.

2. Information presented on this Website is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

3. For site management, information is collected for statistical purposes. This government computer system uses software programs to create summary statistics, which are used for such purposes as assessing what information is of most and least interest, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas.

4. 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.

5. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with National Archives and Records Administration General Schedule 20.

6. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service is strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

7. If you are commenting on an APHIS regulatory, legal, or administrative process, through this Website, your comments and personally identifying information may be made public pursuant to established regulation; for example, 7 CFR Part 1, Subpart B, Sec.1.27.