Privacy and Security

General Information

The Cancer Diagnosis Program (CDP) respects the privacy of users of our Web site, http://cdp.nci.nih.gov. We do not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about visitors to http://cdp.nci.nih.gov unless required to do so by law.

We automatically collect a limited amount of information about the use of our Web site, primarily for statistical purposes (that is, to measure the numbers of visitors to various sections of the site). This information may also be helpful when considering changes to http://cdp.nci.nih.gov, to make the site more useful to visitors.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Users that visit http://cdp.nci.nih.gov in order to apply for materials from the Cancer Diagnosis Program may be asked to submit personal information. We do not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information collected for this purpose.

Information Collected and Stored Automatically

The following information about users of the this Web site is collected and stored automatically:

• The Internet protocol (IP) address of the computer that was used to access the Internet. An IP address is a number that is assigned to a user's computer when he/she logs onto the Internet. When a Web page is requested, the user's IP address is included in the message, and the recipient of the request can respond to it by sending another message using that IP address.
• The name and version of the user's computer operating system and Internet browser. For example, Windows 2000 (operating system) and Internet Explorer 6.0 or Netscape Navigator 7.1 (Internet browsers).
• If a user comes to http://cdp.nci.nih.gov from another Web site, the Internet address of the "referring" Web site.
• The date, time, and duration of the user's visit to http://cdp.nci.nih.gov, and the pages visited.

Cookies

When a user visits a Web site, the Web site's server generates a piece of information known as a "cookie" and places it on the user's computer. Some cookies remain on a user's computer after the user has ended his/her Web site visit. These types of cookies are called "persistent" cookies. They collect personal information about a user and allow the user's computer to be recognized in the future. Nonpersistent cookies, or "session cookies," are erased by a user's computer after a period of inactivity or when the user closes his/her Internet browser. Session cookies do not collect any personal information about a user. They serve technical purposes, such as allowing seamless navigation through a Web site. Session cookies are stored in memory and are only available during an active browser session.

Federal government Web sites are generally prohibited from using persistent cookies. This site does not use any type of cookie.

E-mail Messages Sent to this Web Site

When inquiries are sent to this Web site by e-mail, the question(s) and the e-mail address of the sender are stored electronically to allow time for a response to be researched, written, and sent. Unless otherwise required by law, we will not identify anyone who sends questions or comments to its Web site.

Electronic mail is not secure. Therefore, we suggest that you do not send personal information to us via email.

Links to Other Web Sites from this Web Site

This Web site has links to other Web sites. We cannot guarantee the privacy or security of information users provide to linked, external Web sites.