Privacy

These World Wide Web pages are provided as a public service by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Information presented on these pages are considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

Data Collection

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

• Name of domain (for example,"xyzfirm.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you are connecting from a university's domain)
• IP address from which you access our Web site
• Type of browser and operating system used to access our Web site
• Date and time you accessed our Web site
• Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to us
• Webpages that you visit on our Web site
• Status code indicating success or failure in rendering a webpage for the browser

Use of Cookies

Currently, the Data Portal service uses session cookies (i.e. the data shopping cart). Cookies are used for the user's convenience to maintain "state" between pages and to coordinate search results from multiple programs within a session. The cookies disappear after the session is completed (the session cookie on the client machine is set to expire when the user's session ends). NCDDC does not maintain a historical database of cookies, nor does it use cookies to profile customers.

Information gathered for the creation of an account with the NCDDC will not be sold, transferred or shared unless required by law. Only certain information is required to start an account with the NCDDC. Additional information is requested and may be used for statistical purposes. You can choose not to provide the required information, but you will not be able set up an account and access to specific features will be limited. We will use the information that you provide for such purposes as responding to your requests, customizing future searches for you, improving our data collection services, and communicating with you. The information we collect and maintain will be handled in accordance with the access and privacy protection requirements of the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

Email

By sending NCDDC an electronic mail message (email), you may be sending personal information. In these cases, we may retain the information not only to respond to your request, but also as a record of correspondence according to Department of Commerce guidelines.

Information Submitted Through Web Forms

If you use our Web site forms to contact us, we capture the information you provide and use it to respond to your comments, requests, and inquiries. This information may be maintained for future NCDDC communications, but to the maximum extent of the law is not provided to any other organizaton or entity. We also capture the address of the server from which you sent the form. Providing any information to the NCDDC is voluntary. Submitting voluntary information constitutes your consent to the use of the information for the stated purpose. In the case of Web site forms, you grant consent by clicking the "Submit" button.

Sharing and Protection of Information

NCDDC does not share any of the personal information you provide with agencies outside of the Department of Commerce. To the maximum extent of the law NCDDC does not distribute the information collected from this Web site, except for information or data you may have explicitly submitted for redistribution.

Security

For Web site security purposes, and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, all traffic is monitored to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, otherwise cause damage, or to conduct criminal activity. To protect the NCDDC Web site from unauthorized use and to ensure its proper function, activities of all users are subject to monitoring and recording. Anyone using the NCDDC Web site may be subject to such monitoring and is advised that if there is evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, the results of this monitoring shall be made available to the appropriate officials for possible prosecution. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information (or otherwise cause damage to the NCDDC Web site) are strictly prohibited, and may be punishable under applicable federal law.

Scope

The NCDDC privacy statement applies only to the webpages of the National Coastal Data Development Center. Other NOAA and Department of Commerce organizations may have different Privacy Statements and/or information collection practices. You are encouraged to check the Privacy Statements when going to other NOAA webpages, or when following links to external webpages. Web site visitors can view their rights under the Privacy Act by following this link: http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foiprivacyact.htm

Questions or Comments

If you have any questions or comments about the information presented here, please forward them to the webmaster.