CDC Digital Media Channel Privacy Policy Notice

20210601_rev01 · COMPARED WITH 20191001_rev01 · ARCHIVE SNAPSHOT, DATE APPROXIMATE

Full text changes — 20191001_rev01 to 20210601_rev01

2424### Information You Give Us
2525
2626You do not have to provide any personal information to visit any of the CDC digital media channels with limited exception such as external SharePoint site, special partnership collaboration site, data collection surveillance etc. If you choose to provide us with any personal information such as sending a message to an email address on this website, filling out a form and submitting it through our website, completing a survey, we will use that information to respond to your message or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication. We will maintain any information you provide in accordance with applicable federal laws. CDC will not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about visitors to our websites, unless required by law enforcement or by statute.
2727
2828### Visits to CDC.gov or CDC content
2929
30When browsing any website, certain information about your visit can be collected. When browsing, reading pages or downloading information from the CDC website directly or via APIs on other websites, specific information is gathered and stored automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and temporarily store only the following information about your visit:
30When browsing any website, certain information about your visit can be collected. When browsing, reading pages, or downloading information from the CDC website directly or via APIs on other websites, specific information is gathered and stored automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and temporarily store only the following information about your visit:
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32- the Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if a private Internet access account is used, or "yourschool.edu" if connecting from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when surfing the Web);
33- Information about your computer or mobile device (e.g., type and version of web browser, operating system, screen resolution, and connection speed);
34- the visit date and time;
32- The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if a private Internet access account is used, or "yourschool.edu" if connecting from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when surfing the Web)
33- Information about your computer or mobile device (e.g., type and version of web browser, operating system, screen resolution, and connection speed)
34- The visit date and time
3535- The pages or screens accessed or visited on CDC's digital media
36- The number of times CDC's digital media was accessed.
36- The number of times CDC's digital media was accessed
3737- The amount of data (measured in number of bytes) transmitted from CDC.gov to your computer
38- If www.cdc.gov is designated as a home page (in the event your mobile device allows this functionality); and
38- If www.cdc.gov is designated as a home page (in the event your mobile device allows this functionality)
39- The internet address or URL of the website visited immediately prior to visiting CDC's digital media, but only if you connect to CDC.gov via a link from another web page within that website
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40The internet address or URL of the website visited immediately prior to visiting CDC's digital media, but only if you connect to CDC.gov via a link from another web page within that website.
41
4241### Using CDC's Mobile Application
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4443When you use CDC's Mobile Applications (Apps), certain information will be gathered and stored about your usage of the App. This information does not identify you personally. [Click here](https://www.cdc.gov/other/mobileprivacypolicy.html) to learn more about CDC's Mobile Privacy Policy.
4544
4645### Email Subscriptions
4746
48Email and text message subscription services are offered by CDC as a convenience to users who choose to receive information via these channels. All information published via email subscriptions and text messaging services is available on CDC.gov without the requirement to provide email address or phone number.
47Email message subscription services are offered by CDC as a convenience to users who choose to receive information via this channel. All information published via email subscriptions services is available on CDC.gov without the requirement to provide email address.
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50In order to manage CDC email subscription lists, we retain the names and email addresses of our email subscribers, as well as other information they may have shared with us (e.g., addresses and phone numbers), logs of emails we send, and automatically generated email data used to improve our email communications. Email subscriber service providers may collect and provide non-identifying information about the number of messages sent, clicks and open rates.
49In order to manage CDC email subscription lists, we retain the email addresses of our email subscribers, logs of emails we send, and automatically generated email data used to improve our email communications. Email subscriber service providers may collect and provide non-identifying information about the number of messages sent, clicks and open rates.
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52To get more information about current email subscription service providers and their privacy policy, please refer to the [current third-party tools/pages list](https://www.cdc.gov/other/third-party-pages.html). The email subscriber information is secured and only available to CDC managers, members of the CDC's communication and web Teams, and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. If, at any time, you wish to stop receiving our messages, simply click on the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of each email message.
51To get more information about current email subscription service providers and their privacy policy, please refer to the [current third-party tools/pages list](https://www.cdc.gov/other/third-party-pages.html). The email subscriber information is secured and only available to CDC managers, members of the CDC's communication and web teams, and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. If, at any time, you wish to stop receiving our messages, simply click on the "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of each email message.
5352
5453### Survey Tools
5554
56Invitations to CDC surveys are sent via a pop up or external links to a random sampling of visitor. Your acceptance of a survey is completely optional. If you decline any survey, you will still have the same access to the information and resources provided in all of the CDC's digital media channels, as those who opt to take a survey.
55Invitations to CDC surveys are sent via a pop up or external links to a random sampling of visitor. Your acceptance of a survey is completely optional. If you decline any survey, you will still have the same access to the information and resources provided in all the CDC's digital media channels, as those who opt to take a survey.
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5857CDC uses online surveys to collect opinions and feedback from visitors on all type of digital media channels. Please refer to the [current third-party tools/pages list](https://www.cdc.gov/other/third-party-pages.html) for the current survey service providers. These survey service providers obtain feedback and data on visitor's satisfaction on behalf of the CDC. Surveys conducted on behalf of the CDC do not collect any Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and the aggregate results are only available to CDC staff (e.g., subject matter experts, health communication staff, and other designated staff) who require this information to perform their duties.
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60Mobile surveys (i.e., those accessed via your mobile device) may request an email address and a phone number from you in order to send an external link to the survey. CDC does not receive your personal information, nor will the CDC have access to your information. To get more details on the data collected by any of these survey service providers, please refer to their specific privacy policy.
59Mobile surveys (i.e., those accessed via your mobile device) may request an email address and a phone number from you to send an external link to the survey. CDC does not receive your personal information, nor will the CDC have access to your information. To get more details on the data collected by any of these survey service providers, please refer to their specific privacy policy.
6160
6261### Official CDC Presence on Third-Party Websites
6362
6463All official CDC information available on third-party websites is also available on CDC.gov site. The CDC maintains official pages or accounts on third-party websites in order to better engage and communicate with the general public ([a current third-party tools/pages list](https://www.cdc.gov/other/third-party-pages.html) is here). Your activity on those sites is governed by the third-party website's security and privacy policies. Users of third-party sites often share information with the general public, user communities, and/or the third-party operating the site. Consequently, you should review the privacy policies of third-party sites before using them and ensure that you understand how your information may be shared and used. You should also adjust privacy settings on your account on any third-party site to match your preferences.
6564
6665For the sole purpose of complying with the [Presidential Records Act Externalexternal icon](http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/presidential-records.html), the CDC archives some information that users submit or publish when engaging with the CDC through official CDC pages or accounts on third-party websites (e.g., by sending a message, posting a comment, "following," "friending," or taking similar actions). This information may contain personal information, such as an individual's username and other public account information, when such information is available based on the user's privacy settings and the terms of the site. For example:
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6867- On Twitter, the CDC automatically archives "tweets" from official CDC accounts, "direct messages" sent to or from official CDC accounts, and "mentions" (tweets from other users to official CDC accounts; these tweets contain an @ and the username of an official CDC account (e.g., [@CDCgov](https://twitter.com/cdcgov)). The CDC also automatically archives any status that official accounts have "favorited."
69- On Facebook, the CDC archives all content created by official CDC pages, content that tags an official CDC page, and any content posted on official CDC pages (for example, the number of likes to the page and comments posted).
70- On Google+, the CDC archives all content posted by official CDC accounts, as well as the number of likes/comments/shares on each of those posts (including the comments themselves). The CDC also automatically archives the total number of Google+ users that have added our page to a "Circle," and the list of users that CDC accounts have added to "Circles."
68- On Facebook, the CDC archives all content created by official CDC pages, content that tags an official CDC page, and any content posted on official CDC pages (for example, the number of likes to the page and comments posted)
69- On Instagram, the CDC archives all content created by official CDC profiles, content that tags an official CDC profile, and any content posted on official CDC profiles (for example, the number of likes to the profile and comments posted). The CDC also automatically archives stories posted to official CDC profiles.
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7271For aggregate statistical analysis and to improve the quality of our services, we may integrate web measurement tools with our social media pages. To see current list of web measurement tools, please refer to the [current third-party tools/pages list](https://www.cdc.gov/other/third-party-pages.html). These tools enable basic analysis of social media traffic (such as the number of people visiting a certain page) and do not collect personally identifiable information.
7372
7473## How Information is used
7574
76If you choose to [provide us with information](https://www.cdc.gov/Other/privacy.html), we may use that information to contact you, respond to your message, or provide you the information or services you requested. In order to serve you better, we may analyze multiple sources of data you have provided (for example, to look up whether you previously contacted the CDC about the same topic so that we do not send you a duplicative response). We may also use messages or comments collected through CDC.gov sites, Apps, or official social media pages for our own purposes, such as to inform policy decisions or in public advocacy.
75If you choose to [provide us with information](https://www.cdc.gov/Other/privacy.html), we may use that information to contact you, respond to your message, or provide you the information or services you requested. In order to serve you better, we may analyze multiple sources of data you have provided (for example, to look up whether you previously contacted the CDC about the same topic so that we do not send you a duplicative response). We may also use messages or comments collected through CDC.gov sites, Apps, or official social media profiles for our own purposes, such as to inform policy decisions or in public advocacy.
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7877We may use data you provide and automatically generated data for statistical analysis to assess, for example, what information is of interest to users, technical design specifications, and system performance. This allows us to make general improvements to our site as well as to offer tailored content to email subscribers (e.g., a follow-up message to subscribers interested in a specific topic based on information they have provided or automatically generated data).
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8180
8281## Sharing of this Information
8382
8483[Information you choose to share with the CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/other/privacy.html) (directly and via third party sites) may be treated as public information. We may, for example, publish compilations of messages or comments collected through CDC.gov or official social media pages and provide them to national leaders, members of the press, or other individuals outside of the Federal Government. However, we exercise discretion to limit such disclosures to protect your privacy (for example, we generally do not publish last names of commenters).
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86The CDC uses a third-party analytics provider (for current provider please see [current third-party tools/pages list](https://www.cdc.gov/other/third-party-pages.html) to collect and summarize this information in conjunction with cookies. The third-party analytics provider does not receive personally identifiable information through these cookies and is prohibited from combining, matching or cross-referencing CDC.gov information with any other information.
85The CDC uses a third-party analytics provider (for current provider please see [current third-party tools/pages list](https://www.cdc.gov/other/third-party-pages.html) to collect and summarize this information in conjunction with cookies. The third-party analytics provider does not receive personally identifiable information through these cookies and is prohibited from combining, matching, or cross-referencing CDC.gov information with any other information.
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8887Within the CDC, we restrict access to personally identifiable information to only those employees, contractors, and/or vendors who require access to this information in order to perform their official duties and exercise controls to limit what data they can view based on the specific needs of their position. If you choose to share information with us, we may in some cases share that information (or automatically generated information) with other government agencies in response to lawful law enforcement requests or to protect CDC.gov from security threats.
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9089We do not use or share your information for commercial purposes and, except as described above, we do not exchange or otherwise disclose this information.
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9291[Top of Page]()