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Terms and Conditions for Using Our Web Site

 

Privacy Statement

Thank you for visiting our web site. We protect your privacy while you visit us online.

Personal Information

You do not have to provide any personal information to visit this web site.

If you provide us information about yourself via e-mail or a web form, your information will be used only for the purposes described at the point of collection, such as to send information or products to you, or to respond to your questions or comments. If you provide contact information, NARA staff or its contractors may contact you to clarify your comment or question, or to learn about your level of customer satisfaction with our services.

  • We do not sell any personal information to third parties.

  • We may transfer personal information to a third party only in the following cases:

    • To a bank or United States Department of the Treasury account, which must receive payment for a transaction that you initiated;

    • To a company that is contracted to assist us with specific services, including electronic commerce or donations, and which agrees not to sell or use personal information for other purposes;

    • To legal authorities if we suspect that you are attempting to change or otherwise damage this web site, or you are using it in violation of Federal or local laws;

    • To Congress or a court in response to a subpoena.

The personal information you provide when you place an order with us may be used only to fulfill your order or to facilitate the preparation of internal statistical reports. NARA makes every effort to limit the number of people who have access to this personal information.

E-mail Information

Please do not send us sensitive information, such as your credit card or social security numbers, via e-mail. It is possible that during transmission of your e-mail this information may be intercepted by a third party. We can not guarantee its safety while in transit.

We use return e-mail addresses to answer the e-mail we receive. We would share your e-mail with another federal government agency only if your inquiry related to that agency or if we were required to do so by law.

Cookies

"Cookies" are small bits of text that are either used for the duration of a session ("session cookies"), or saved on a user's hard drive in order to identify that user, or information about that user, the next time the user logs on to a Web site ("persistent cookies").

  • The National Archives web site and its component sites do not use persistent cookies.

  • One or more of the Agency's component sites may use session cookies to provide streamlined navigation throughout their sites and for statistical analysis. These session cookies are deleted from the component's server soon after your session ends and are not collected or saved. You can set up your Web browser to inform you when cookies are set or to prevent cookies from being set. You can still use our Web site if you do not accept the cookies, but you may be unable to use certain cookie-dependent features.

Information Collected and Stored Automatically

If you visit our site to read or download information, we collect and store the following information about your visit:

  • The name of the Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you are connecting from a university's domain) and the IP address (a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you are using the Internet) from which you access our site;

  • The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;

  • The date and time you access our site;

  • The Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to our site; and

  • The pages you visit and the information you request.

This information is primarily collected for statistical analysis and technical improvements to the site. The National Archives uses software programs to create summary statistics, which may be 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. In certain circumstances, however, we may take additional steps to identify you based on this information and we may share this information, including your identity, with other government agencies.

  • Although questions, comments, and other communications that we receive generally are not retained as permanent records, please note that it is possible that any mail – electronic or paper – that we or any other Federal agency receive could become part of the permanent record of the agency, if the mail is part of materials that are scheduled for permanent retention.

Use of Plugins

The first time that you use an area of our site that requires animation software, such as "Flash" or "Shockwave," you may see an invitation to go to the software manufacturer's web site so you may download software needed to view the animation on our web site. This prompt occurs because we can tell whether your browser has the needed capabilities provided by these plug-ins. We do not use "cookies" to do this, nor do we read anything on your computer other than your browser's capabilities. We do not endorse or guaranty anything about the product that you may download from a manufacturer's web site. If you choose to visit the manufacturer's web site to obtain the plug-in, please carefully review their policies for details about personal privacy and use of their software.

Disclaimer of Endorsement

Reference to specific commercial businesses, products, processes, or services by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, on any web site administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or by NARA. Recognition of commercial businesses, institutions, and organizations mentioned on any web site administered by NARA that relate, for example, to our development initiatives and partnerships does not imply endorsement by the Government.

We provide links from our web pages to external web sites because they provide information that may interest our customers. This is provided as a convenience only. External links do not constitute an endorsement by NARA of the opinions, products, or services presented on the external site, or of any sites linked to it. NARA is not responsible for the legality or accuracy of information on externally linked sites, or for any costs incurred while using externally linked sites.

  • Generally, materials produced by Federal agencies are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. However, not all materials appearing on this Web site are in the public domain. Some materials have been donated or obtained from individuals or organizations and may be subject to restrictions on use.

  • You may consult our reference staff for details on specific items. We are aware of donor restrictions applicable to our collections, but we can not confirm copyright status for any item. We recommend that you contact the United States Copyright Office at The Library of Congress to search currently copyrighted materials.

  • Please note that because we cannot guaranty the status of specific items, you use materials found in our holdings at your own risk.

  • Images on our web site which are in the public domain may be used without permission. If you use images from our web site, we ask that you credit us as the source. Please note that some images on our site have been obtained from other organizations. Permission to use these images should be obtained directly from those organizations.

  • Links may be made to our web site from other personal and organizational web pages. We request that you link to our site rather than downloading portions of it to another web server, so that our viewers will see our most up-to-date information.

  • Certain individuals depicted may claim rights in their likenesses and images. Use of photographs or other materials found on NARA's Web site may be subject to these claims. Anyone who intends to use these materials commercially should contact the individuals depicted or their representatives.

  • It is possible that our site will provide you an opportunity to go to a software manufacturer's web site so you may download a related plug-in that will enable your browser to show you a part of our web site. This prompt occurs because our system can tell whether your browser has the needed capabilities provided by these plug-ins. Our system does not read or place anything on your hard drive when recognizing your browser's capabilities. While the plug-in(s) are needed to view some content, you retain control and choice about conducting the download. At the time that we create and post the web pages that require these software plug-ins for viewing, they are provided by their manufacturer for download and use free of charge. We can not guaranty, however, that the plug-in will remain free, or that the manufacturer will not collect personally identifying information about you when you elect to download the software from their site. If you choose to visit the manufacturer's web site to obtain the plug-in, please carefully review their posted policies for details about personal privacy and use of downloaded plug-ins.

Donor Imposed Restrictions upon Materials in our Holdings

Please note that dissemination of some documents – including images, sound, cartographic, textual, or electronic materials – found in our holdings may be restricted by donor agreement. To purchase a copy of these materials, you must obtain permission from the donor. If you have questions about this process, please contact us.

Copyright Restrictions upon Materials in our Holdings

Some documents – including images, sound, cartographic, textual, or electronic materials – found in our holdings may be copyrighted. Please note that it is your responsibility to identify the copyright owner and to obtain permission before making use of this material in any way. We have provided a Source and Permissions Contact List for some motion pictures, sound and video which may assist you. If you have questions about this process, please contact us.

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. This law provides that under certain conditions libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction of materials. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If you use a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," you may be liable for copyright infringement.

Please note: The National Archives and Records Administration reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

Information Surety

We recommend that you acquire information describing the services and products of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) directly from NARA's official web sites, because other, non-NARA sources may not be able to maintain accurate information pertaining to our programs.

We work hard to ensure the information provided to you is accurate and complete. However, it is possible that information may change prior to updating. We welcome your suggestions on how to improve our home page and correct errors.

Please use the information on this web site based on your evaluation and analysis of any risks. It is your responsibility to ensure that the information you use (including software, images, audio files, artwork, and documents) are free of any violations of intellectual property rights. For further discussion on this topic, please read our "copyright, restrictions, and permissions" notice.

Some of the documents on the server may contain live references (or "pointers") to information created and maintained by other organizations. NARA does not control and cannot guaranty the relevance, timeliness, or accuracy of the outside materials.

Please note that electronic editions of Federal Register publications (Executive Orders) are posted on the GPO Access web site. NARA's GPO Access web pages are jointly administered by NARA and the Government Printing Office. Federal Register online publications are generally considered to be documents of record under Federal Register regulations and statements posted on NARA's web site and GPO Access. NARA's Office of the Federal Register controls the content of Federal Register publications on GPO Access and stands behind the accuracy and authenticity of the material. Therefore, we provide direct links from NARA's web site to Federal Register web pages on GPO Access.

Because we do not know how you are using information found on our web site, we do not make any express or implied warranties about the information contained in this web site for your particular use. Except as to segments of this web site specifically identified as authoritative guidance, we disclaim these warranties to the full extent provided by state and Federal law, including, but not limited to the warranties for merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement of proprietary rights. All indirect, consequential, implied, punitive and special damages are deemed waived if you use the information on this web site in any manner.

The vast majority of information presented through web sites administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), are not documents of record. Please note that authenticity of information can be confirmed only by examining the "record" version. If you have questions about the authenticity of a document, please contact the owner of the page that concerns you, or you may contact us.

Virus Protection

We use virus protection software on our computer systems and regularly update the software. This is a computer security measure that, in addition to maintaining our computer systems, also ensures that all files that we develop and/or post on our web servers are virus-free. When you request a file for download from our site, it is possible, though unlikely, that the data may contract a virus and become corrupted before it reaches your computer. The National Archives and Records Administration is not responsible for files that may become corrupted as the data travels the Internet.

Security

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. Anyone using this system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if such monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, such evidence may be provided to appropriate law enforcement officials. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this server are strictly prohibited and may be punishable by law, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996.

 

 

Last Updated July 21, 2006