Privacy, Disclaimer, Copyrights and Logo Use

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is committed to maintaining a web site that protects the individual’s right to privacy. We do not require personal information from our visitors, nor do we collect any personally identifying information (name, email address, Social Security number, or other unique identifier) unless you knowingly provide it. Likewise, we do not give, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party except as might be required by law .

Data Collection for Statistics

To aid in web site management, certain information is collected for statistical purposes. The Service uses specialized software to create summary statistics, which are used for such purposes as assessing what information is of most and least interest to our customers, determining technical design specifications, and identifying system performance or problem areas.

We collect only the following information about your visit:

• The name of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, "princeton.edu" if you are connecting from Princeton University’s domain, or "aol.com" if you are connecting from an America Online account);
• The web site from which you linked directly to our web site, if you have used another web site to reach our site;
• The operating system and web browser you use to view pages;
• The date and time you access our web site.

We use the information we collect to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our web site, allowing us to make our web site more useful and accessible to visitors. We do not store any personal identifiers.

Information Collected from E-mails and Forms

Visit the Department's Talk to Us page to learn what can happen to the information you provide us when you send us e-mail or fill out a questionnaire or guestbook. Any information that we collect via a questionnaire or a guestbook may be subject to disclosure, but will be handled in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act to ensure the greatest protection of personal privacy in the face of any required disclosure.

Security Checks

For web site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we employ software programs to monitor network traffic, identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this web site are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

For Kids!
Please don't send us e-mail, Especially if you are under 13. Instead, have an adult send the message. Have your parents, teachers and school librarian contact us if you need further assistance. They may send e-mail to Contact@fws.gov

For more information: Check out the Federal Trade Commission's KIDZ Privacy Web Site.