USA.gov privacy and security policies

Use of persistent cookies

Like many websites, USA.gov uses "persistent cookie" technology. A persistent cookie is a small text file that this website places on your web browser. The cookie gathers anonymous summary demographic information, and it remembers your browser when you visit our site again later. 

These cookies uniquely identify a browser on a computer, but never a person. Here is how we use persistent cookies on USA.gov:

• To remember you when your browser comes back to the site, so we do not invite you to take our customer satisfaction survey within 90 days of completing a survey on USA.gov 
• To obtain statistical information about the use of the site that helps us understand how the public uses the site and how we can improve it. USA.gov uses services to measure statistical data about site activity. Government agencies only receive statistics on the traffic of the site as a whole and not related to a particular user.
• To gather anonymous summary demographic information about our visitors such as gender, age range, and areas of interest for adults over age 18. We do this by using Google Demographic and Interests reports. When you visit a website that has partnered with the Google Display Network, Google stores a number in your browser using a persistent cookie to remember your visits. This number uniquely identifies a web browser, not a specific person. Browsers may be associated with a demographic category, such as gender or age range, based on the sites that were visited. We use this demographic information to help us better understand our visitors' interests and needs so we can develop better content.

Most internet browsers automatically accept persistent cookies. Although using persistent cookies creates a much better experience for you, this site will also work without them. If you do not want to accept cookies, you can edit your browser's options to stop accepting persistent cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. Learn how to disable cookies.

External links

USA.gov links to many websites created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations as outlined in our Linking Policy. If you click a link to an outside website, you will leave the USA.gov site, and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the outside website.

Social media sites

USA.gov manages a presence on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and others to share government information, and engage with the public. We do not collect any personally identifiable information through those sites, and we do not use personal information made available by the third-party sites.

If you send us personal information

We do not collect personal information for any purpose other than to respond to your request. The only personal information that we collect is what you decide to give us by subscribing to our email subscription services.

We only share the information you give us with another government agency if your question relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. USA.gov never collects information or creates individual profiles for commercial marketing.