For more information
on children waiting
for families in
the U.S. foster care
system, see

AdoptUSKids

For information on child abuse and neglect, see

National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information

You are here: Home > Privacy and Linking Policy

Privacy and Linking Policy

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to explain the types of information collected and maintained by the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse and the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information. This applies to our website and other Clearinghouse operations. The Linking Policy explains evaluation criteria that the Clearinghouse uses to determine when to create links to other websites.

Clearinghouse Website Privacy Policy

As a service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Clearinghouse does not collect any information about you other than information automatically collected and stored when you visit our website unless you choose to provide us with additional information. The Clearinghouse and its sponsor, ACF, do not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about our visitors, unless required for law enforcement by statute.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored. Personal information about your visit to our website that is automatically collected and temporarily stored includes:

• The name of the domain you use to access the Internet (e.g., aol.com if you access our website via America Online, or georgetown.edu if you connect from Georgetown University's domain).
• The date and time of your visit to our site.
• The pages you visited on our site.
• The type of browser you use (e.g., Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer).
• The Internet address of the website from which you linked to our site.

This information is used for statistical purposes; we review this information frequently in order to make the website more useful to our visitors.

Information You Provide to the Clearinghouse. You do not have to give us personal information to visit our website. If you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself, your information will be temporarily stored and will only be used for the purpose for which you have provided it. Your information will not be shared without your consent. Communications that are considered official correspondence are maintained, as required by law, for historical purposes. These communications are archived on a regular basis, but are also protected by the Privacy Act, which restricts our use of them, yet permits certain disclosures.

Persistent Cookies. "Persistent" Web cookies are defined as Web cookies that can track the activities of users over time and across different websites.

Consistent with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' policy on the Usage of Persistent Cookies, "persistent" Web cookies are not used on ACF websites or by contractors operating websites on behalf of ACF unless certain conditions are met, including clear and conspicuous notice.

Intrusion Detection. For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, the Clearinghouse and ACF use 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.

Links to other websites. Throughout the Clearinghouse website are links to other websites. We encourage you to review the privacy statements on these other sites regarding their respective policies.

Other Clearinghouse Operations

Electronic Subscriptions. Subscribing to the Clearinghouse's E-lert system and Children's Bureau Express online digest will provide you with highlights of website features, new publications, and resources distributed by the Clearinghouse. Your name and e-mail are required for our databases to provide this information to you. The Clearinghouse does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information, including e-mail addresses, unless required for law enforcement by statute.

Ordering from the Clearinghouse. If you order something from the Clearinghouse, we will need your complete mailing information to send you our product(s). The Clearinghouse does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information unless required for law enforcement by statute.

Back to Top

Clearinghouse Linking Policy

Evaluation Criteria for Selecting Links. The Clearinghouse staff evaluates all suggested links using the following criteria:

• Does the information on the recommended website support Clearinghouse mission and values? (See About Us for more information.)
• Is the recommended website an official government-owned or supported website?
• Does the recommended website provide official government information or services?
• Does the recommended website complement existing information, products, and services on the Clearinghouse?
• Is the recommended website accessible and applicable to a wide audience?
• Is the recommended website's content relevant, useful and authoritative for citizens, businesses and/or government officials?
• Does the recommended website's information appear to be accurate and current?
• Is the recommended website's approach to the privacy of personal information consistent with the government's privacy and security policies?
• Is the recommended website user-friendly?
• Does the recommended website meet one or more of the following highly desirable criteria?
• The website crosses agency or intergovernmental boundaries (e.g., Children's Bureau, Health and Human Services, National Resource Centers, local or State programs in child welfare or adoption);
• The website enables citizens, businesses and/or government officials to conduct transactions online (e.g., download or order products, contact professionals in child welfare or adoption);
• The website provides citizens, businesses and/or government officials with the information they need to interact directly with government organizations (e.g., clearly available telephone numbers, street addresses, e-mail addresses, and instructions);
• The website provides citizens with information about service performance (e.g., family support groups, research, technical support to program evaluation or development);
• The website provides community-level information and services (e.g., local adoption agencies, local child abuse prevention programs, local child, adult, and family support groups).

Links to Government Websites. The Clearinghouse can add a link to any government website that is publicly available unless directed not to by the agency that owns the site. Acceptable Federal government-owned or government-sponsored website domains include .gov, .mil and .fed.us. The Clearinghouse also links to: quasi-government agencies and websites created by public sector/private sector partnerships; State and local government sites (e.g., www.maryland.gov); and some government-sponsored websites that end in .com, .org, or .net (e.g., www.usps.com for the U.S. Postal Service and www.ncfy.com/clear.htm for the National Clearinghouses and Resource Centers on Families and Youth).

Links to Non-Government Websites. In some instances, the Clearinghouse websites link to websites that are not government-owned or government-sponsored if these websites provide government information and/or services in a way that is not available on an official government website. The Clearinghouse provides these non-government websites as a public service only. The U.S. government, including the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (the primary sponsoring Federal agency of the Clearinghouse), neither endorses nor guarantees in any way the external organizations, services, advice, or products included in these website links. Furthermore, the U.S. government neither controls nor guarantees the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of the information contained in non-government website links. (See Disclaimer of Endorsement for more information on this topic.)

Featured Links. The Clearinghouse websites highlight links of special interest to wide audiences by temporarily posting them in a position of prominence on the website. Featured links may include: current topics on the minds of citizens, businesses or government officials; community-level services and information; cross-agency portals that enhance the public's interaction with government; and new noteworthy resources.

Prohibitions. The Clearinghouse will not link to any website that exhibits hate, bias, or discrimination. Furthermore, the Clearinghouse reserves the right to deny or remove any link that contains misleading information or unsubstantiated claims, or is determined to be in conflict with the Clearinghouse mission or policies.

Disclaimer of Endorsement. The information posted on the Clearinghouse websites includes hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. The Clearinghouse websites provide these links and pointers solely for our users' information and convenience. When users select a link to an outside website, they are leaving the Clearinghouse site and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website.

• The Children's Bureau and the Clearinghouse do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on a linked website.
• The Children's Bureau and the Clearinghouse do not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, and we do not endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
• The Children's Bureau and the Clearinghouse cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website.
• The Children's Bureau and the Clearinghouse are not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.
• The Children's Bureau and the Clearinghouse do not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.

Sites that Link to Us. We are not necessarily affiliated with and have no control over those websites that choose to link to us.

Linking policy adapted from FirstGov.gov.

Back to Top

Home | About Us | Give Us Suggestions | Glossary | Free Subscriptions | FAQs
Privacy and Linking Policy | Copyright Information | A-Z Index | Advanced Search | Site Index

A Service of the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

For more information, contact:
National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
330 C Street, SW
Washington, DC 20447
Phone: (703) 352-3488 or (888) 251-0075
Fax: (703) 385-3206
E-mail: naic@caliber.com

Updated on July 8, 2004 by webmaster_naic@caliber.com.