Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the website for the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security Research and Development Center, a program of the Science and Technology Directorate (“S&T”), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Thank you as well for reviewing our privacy policy. This site is maintained by SRI International (“SRI”), under contract to DHS S&T.

Your Personal Information

Information that is collected at this site is used as described below:

  • Information you provide on this site is being sent to DHS S&T. DHS S&T has contracted with SRI to maintain this website. In the course of providing that service, SRI may process or come into contact with your data, but only for the purposes of providing the website services to DHS S&T.
  • SRI is not permitted to use your information in any way other than fulfilling its contractual duties to DHS S&T.
  • The Department of Homeland Security will not share your information, except (1) as required by applicable law or legal action, (2) with third parties in the course of providing the services, processes, or information you requested, (3) with third parties which may assist DHS S&T in fulfilling a response or action you request, or (4) as otherwise described in this section.
  • We (meaning the Department of Homeland Security/S&T/SRI/this site) only collect your personal information, such as your name or address, with your permission.

We do, however, collect some types of information when you visit in order to make your visit seamless. The section below explains what kind of information we collect, and how we handle it.

Information Collected and Stored Automatically

When you browse, read pages, or download information on the Department of Homeland Security’s websites, we may automatically gather and store certain information about your visit. This information never identifies who you are. The information we may collect and store about your visit is listed below:

  • 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) and/or 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 website;
  • The type of browser (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer) and operating system (Windows, Unix) used to access our site;
  • The date and time you access our site;
  • The pages you visit
  • If you linked to this website from another website, the address of that website.

This information is used only to help us make the 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. We never track or record information about individuals and their visits.

Cookies

When you visit some websites, their Web servers generate pieces of information known as “cookies.” Some cookies collect personal information in order to recognize your computer in the future. This is not the case at the Department of Homeland Security, where we only use non-persistent cookies or "per-session” cookies. These cookies do not collect personal information on users, and they are erased as soon as you leave our website.

Per-session cookies serve technical purposes such as providing seamless navigation through the Department of Homeland Security. These cookies do not permanently record data and they are not stored on your computer’s hard drive. Department of Homeland Security cookies are stored in memory, and are only available during an active browser session. Again, once you close your browser, the cookie disappears.

If You Send Us Information about Yourself and Your Home Institution

We only share the information you give us with another government agency as required by law. For example, Congress may require DHS to provide statistics about the types of companies, universities, or other entities applying to our programs. We do not create individual profiles or give it to any private organizations. We do not collect information for commercial marketing.

Site Security

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this computer system may employ software programs to monitor network traffic and to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage.

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 consistent with National Archives and Records Administration guidelines.

Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under federal law.

Security Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement

The information posted on this website may include hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations.

  • We provide these links and pointers solely for our users’ information and convenience. When users select a link to an outside website, they are leaving this website and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of such outside websites.
  • We do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on a linked website.
  • We do not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, nor do we endorse the views they express or the products/services they offer.
  • We do not and cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website.
  • We are not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.
  • We do not guarantee that outside websites comply with the requirements of Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.

Prohibitions

We will not link to any website that promotes hate, bias or discrimination. Furthermore, we reserve the right to deny or remove any link that contains misleading information or unsubstantiated claims, or is determined to be in conflict with our mission or policies.

Questions?

For questions about this site, the privacy policy, the Center, or DHS S S&T generally, please contact SandT-Cyber-Liaison@hq.dhs.gov. If you have questions about privacy at the Department of Homeland Security, please contact the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office at (202) 772-9848 or privacy@dhs.gov.