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Privacy Policy

Last updated October 17, 2011


OSE Privacy Policy Part I: OSE Web Privacy Notice

Your Visit to the OSE Web Site Is Private and Secure
Types of Information Collected
OSE Web Site Data Retention
How OSE Uses Cookies
How to Opt Out or Disable Cookies
How Your Personal Information Is Protected
Disclosure
Site Security

Privacy Policy Part II: Your Visit to OSE On Third-Party Web Sites

Third-Party Sites and Applications
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Data Safeguarding and Privacy
For More Information



OSE Privacy Policy Part I: OSE Web Privacy Notice

Your Visit to the OSE Web Site Is Private and Secure

Protecting your privacy is very important to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) OSE. We do not collect any personally identifiable information (PII) about you when you visit our Web site http://science.education.nih.gov unless you choose to provide it to us. We do not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about your visit to our site unless we are required to do so by law. OSE never collects information for commercial marketing or any purpose unrelated to our mission and goals.

We do, however, collect some data about your visit to our Web site to help us make the site more useful to our users. We collect information to learn about how users navigate our site, to track the types of resources most sought and accessed, and to distinguish between new and returning visitors.

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Types of Information Collected

When you browse through the OSE Web site, we automatically collect and temporarily store the following information about your visit:
  • Domain name from which you access the Internet
  • IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you surf the Internet)
  • Operating system and information about the browser you use when visiting the site
  • Date and time of your visit
  • Pages you visited
  • Address of the Web site that connected you to the OSE Web site (e.g., Google, Bing)

We use this information to measure the number of visitors to our site and its various sections so that we can make our site more helpful.

OSE uses Google Analytics Web measurement software to collect the information in the bulleted list above. Google Analytics collects information automatically and continuously. No PII is collected. OSE staff conducts analyses and reports on the aggregated data from Google Analytics. These reports are available only to NIH managers and other designated staff who need them to perform their duties.

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OSE Web Site Data Retention

OSE retains the data from Google Analytics as long as required by law or needed to support the mission of its Web site.

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How OSE Uses Cookies

The June 25, 2010, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memo M-10-22, Guidance for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies, allows Federal agencies to use session and persistent cookies.

When you visit any Web site, its server may generate a piece of text known as a “cookie” to place on your computer. The cookie allows the server to “remember” specific information about your visit while you are connected.

The cookie makes it easier for you to use the dynamic features of Web pages. Cookies from OSE Web pages collect only information about your browser’s visit to the site; they do not collect PII about you. OSE uses multi-session “persistent” cookies that are stored on your computer after your browser has closed. We use persistent cookies to enable Google Analytics to differentiate between new and returning visitors to http://science.education.nih.gov. Persistent cookies remain on your computer between visits until they expire. OMB Memo M-10-22 defines the use of persistent cookies as “Usage Tier 2—Multi-session without PII.” The policy states, “This tier encompasses any use of multi-session Web measurement and customization technology when no PII is collected.”

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How to Opt Out or Disable Cookies

If you do not wish to have persistent cookies placed on your computer, you can disable them using your Web browser. If you opt out of using cookies, you will still have access to all information and resources at http://science.education.nih.gov. Instructions for disabling or opting out of cookies in the most popular browsers are located at http://www.usa.gov/optout_instructions.shtml. Please note that by following the instructions to opt out of cookies, you will disable cookies from all sources, not just those from http://science.education.nih.gov. In addition, Google provides an Opt-out Browser Add-on "to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics." OSE does not endorse and makes no representation about the effectiveness of the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

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How Your Personal Information Is Protected

You do not have to give us PII when visiting the OSE Web site. If you choose to send an e-mail containing PII to OSE directly at ose@science.education.nih.gov or use the online e-mail form, OSE staff will respond to your inquiries. E-mail inquiries and OSE responses will be filed in a secure database that will not be combined with Web site measurement data. Only designated OSE staff will respond to your inquiries.

When you choose to do so, you may provide OSE with PII for the purpose of ordering print curricula, ordering DVDs, registering for public events, requesting speakers for public events, and requesting mentors. The PII that you provide is maintained in a secure database, and it will not be combined with data obtained through Web analysis activities. OSE’s PII data-collection efforts come under System of Records Notice 09-25-0106, Office of the Director and Institute/Center Correspondence Records, HHS/NIH/OD. We will maintain the information you provide for no more than 10 years. We will safeguard the information you provide in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. Section 552a). A Privacy Act Notification Statement is prominently and conspicuously displayed on the public-facing Web site or form that asks you to provide PII.

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Disclosure

OSE does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about our visitors, unless required for law enforcement or by statute.

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Site Security

The OSE Web site is maintained by the U.S. Government. It is protected by various provisions of Title 18, U.S. Code. Violations of Title 18 are subject to criminal prosecution in Federal court.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we use software programs 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.


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Privacy Policy Part II: Your Visit to OSE on Third-Party Web Sites

Third-Party Sites and Applications

Third-Party Web sites and Applications (TPWA) are Web-based technologies that are not exclusively operated or controlled by NIH, such as non-.gov-hosted applications and those embedded on NIH Web pages that could cause personally identifiable information (PII) to become available or accessible to NIH, regardless of whether NIH solicits or collects it.

As part of the Open Government Directive, science.education.nih.gov uses a variety of new technologies and social media options to communicate and interact with citizens. These sites and applications include popular social networking and media sites, open source software communities, and more. The following includes the Web sites and applications we use and their purposes. For any sites or applications that collect PII, this list also includes details on information collected and how OSE protects your private information.


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Facebook

OSE has one Facebook page called NIHSciEd External Web Site Policy. The privacy policy for the Facebook page is located on the NIHSciEd Facebook page External Web Site Policy.

On the NIHSciEd Facebook page External Web Site Policy, OSE staff post news and other items of interest to users. If you have a Facebook account or “Like” on the NIHSciEd Facebook page External Web Site Policy, you can post comments or click on the “like” option for individual entries. If you comment or click on the “like” button, your personally identifying information may be visible to OSE staff and other Facebook site visitors. The amount of visible personal information will depend on your own Facebook privacy settings. You can avoid displaying any personally identifiable information by not creating an account, not posting comments, and not clicking on the “like” options in Facebook.

OSE staff does not collect, use or disclose any information about visitors who comment or “like” the NIHSciEd Facebook page External Web Site Policy. Facebook collects and reports on non-personally identifiable information about activities on Facebook pages. This information is password-protected and only available to OSE managers, members of the OSE Web Team and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. The Facebook privacy policy is available at: www.facebook.com/policy.php External Web Site Policy .

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Twitter

Twitter is not owned by the Federal government. NIHSciEd uses Twitter to send short messages (up to 140 characters), or “Tweets,” to share information about OSE with our audiences and respond to comments and inquiries sent via Twitter to OSE. While users may read the NIHSciEd Twitter feeds without subscribing to them, users who want to subscribe to (or follow) NIHSciEd Twitter feeds must create a Twitter account at www.twitter.com.

To create an account, you will be asked to provide some personal information, such as name, user name, password, and email address. You have the option to provide additional personal information including a short biography, your location, or a picture. Most information you provide for a Twitter account is available to the public, but you can modify how much of your information is visible by changing your privacy settings at the Twitter.com Web site.

OSE staff members monitor the number of subscribers and respond to comments and queries via Twitter, but the staff never uses the personal information of NIHSciEd Twitter followers. OSE does not collect, maintain, disclose, or share any information about people who follow OSE on Twitter. The Twitter privacy policy is available at: http://twitter.com/privacy.


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YouTube

OSE maintains the Youtube account NIHSciEd. Our videos introduce you to career information in the health and medical, and behavioral sciences, curricula and other resources that are available for students and teachers at our web site (http://science.education.nih.gov). To be notified when OSE adds new videos, users with a YouTube account can subscribe to the NIHSciEd channel.

OSE staff members monitor the number of subscribers and may respond to comments and queries on YouTube, but OSE does not collect, maintain, disclose, or share any information about people who follow OSE on YouTube. (See YouTube.com Privacy Policy External Web Site Policy.)


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Data Safeguarding and Privacy

All uses of Web measurement and customization technologies will comply with existing policies with respect to privacy and data safeguarding standards. Information Technology (IT) systems owned and operated by OSE are assessed using Privacy Impact Assessments posted for public view on the Department of Health and Human Services Web site (http://www.hhs.gov/pia/nih.html External Web Site Policy). Groups of records that contain information about an individual and are designed to be retrieved by the name or other personal identifier linked to the individual are covered by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. Section 552a). For these records, NIH Systems of Record Notices are published in the Federal Register and posted on the NIH Senior Official for Privacy Web site. For more information, please refer to the NIH Privacy Policy posted on the NIH.gov Web site. When you visit the NIH Institute/Center sites, please look for the Privacy Notice posted on the main pages. When Web measurement and customization technologies are used, the Privacy Policy/Notice must state:

  • Purpose of the Web measurement and/or customization technology;
  • Usage Tier, session type, and technology used;
  • Nature of the information collected;
  • Purpose and use of the information;
  • Whether and to whom the information will be disclosed;
  • Privacy safeguards applied to the information;
  • Data retention policy for the information;
  • Whether the technology is enabled by default or not and why;
  • How to opt-out of the Web measurement/customization technology;
  • Statement that opting-out still permits users to access comparable information or services; and,
  • Identities of all third party vendors involved in the measurement and customization process.

Data Retention and Access Limits

OSE will retain data collected using long enough to achieve the specified objective for which they were collected. The data generated from these activities falls under the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedule (GRS) 20-item IC 'Electronic Records,' and will be handled per the requirements of that schedule (http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/grs/grs20.html).

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For More Information

For further information about the NIH privacy policies, please contact the NIH Senior Official for Privacy at privacy@mail.nih.gov, 301-451-3426, or http://oma.od.nih.gov/ms/privacy/privacyact.html.

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