HHS Privacy Policy Notice
This privacy notice applies to www.hhs.gov and a number of other HHS websites with unique domains,
such as www.StopBullying.gov. However, some HHS websites maintain their own privacy policy notices.
You can find links to the applicable privacy notice in the footer of each HHS website.
- We do not collect personally identifiable information (PII) about you unless you choose to provide that information to us.
- Any personal information you choose to provide is protected by security practices.
- Non-personal information related to your visit to our website may be automatically collected and temporarily stored.
- HHS does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about our visitors unless required for law enforcement or by Federal law.
Health Information Privacy
For more information on your health information privacy and security rights, or on the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules, visit the HHS Office for Civil Rights.
Privacy Act Information
You may also want to read information about the Privacy Act at HHS. If you have privacy questions or issues, contact an HHS Privacy Official. Also see the Privacy Act of 1974 (Department of Justice).
For more detailed information on HHS privacy, see these topics below:
HHS Privacy Program
It is the mission of HHS to enhance and protect the health and wellbeing of all Americans. HHS fulfills that mission by providing effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health, and social services. HHS recognizes the importance of protecting the personally identifiable information (PII) entrusted to us by millions of members of public and employees alike, and has built a robust Privacy Program to safeguard this information and ensure that Americans’ privacy rights are upheld.
System of Records Notices (SORNs)
For a list of all of the Department’s systems of records visit the HHS SORNs page.
Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs)
For a list of the Department’s System PIAs and ThirdParty Websites and Applications PIAs see the HHS Privacy Impact Assessments page.
Matching Notices and Agreements
For a list of the Department’s uptodate matching notices and agreements see the HHS Computer Matching Agreements page.
Exemptions to the Privacy Act.
For more information on the Department’s final rules published in the Federal Register that promulgate Privacy Act exemptions claimed for HHS’s systems of records, see the HHS Privacy Act page.
Privacy Act Implementation Rules
For a list of Privacy Act implementation rules promulgated pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552a(f), visit the HHS Privacy Act page.
Publicly Available Agency Policies on Privacy
For a list of all publicly available HHS policies on privacy, including any directives, instructions, handbooks, manuals, or other guidance, visit:
Publicly Available Agency Reports on Privacy
For a list of the Department’s publicly available privacy reports, see the HHS Plans & Reports page.
Instructions for Submitting a Privacy Act Request
Fr instructions for individuals who wish to request access to or amendment of their records pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d), visit the HHS “How to Make a Privacy Request” page.
Contact Information for Submitting a Privacy Question or Complaint
For individuals who wish to submit a privacy related question or complaint, visit the HHS Privacy Act Contacts list.
Privacy Official Contacts
Departmentlevel Privacy Contacts:
The HHS Chief Information Officer (CIO) also holds the position of Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP), ensuring privacy receives seniorlevel recognition and has visibility across the Department.
For HHS SAOP contact information, see:
Beth Killoran
HHS Senior Agency Official for Privacy;
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology; and
Chief Information Officer (CIO).
Phone: 2026906162
Email: beth.killoran@hhs.gov
For HHS Chief Privacy and Data Sharing Officer contact information, see:
Matthew Olsen
HHS Chief Privacy and Data Sharing Officer; and
Executive Director, OCIO Office of Privacy & Information Management.
Phone: 2022600322
Email: Matthew.Olsen@hhs.gov
OpDiv Senior Officials for Privacy:
Each OpDiv has, at a minimum, a Senior Official for Privacy (SOP) to oversee privacy compliance activities. For OpDiv SOP contact information, see:
Gary Cochran
Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Phone: 2024016465
Email: Gary.Cochran@acf.hhs.gov
Jacques Newgen
Administration of Community Living (ACL)
Phone: 2027957414
Email: Jacques.Newgen@acl.hhs.gov
Tim Erny
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Phone: 3014271760
Email: Tim.Erny@ahrq.hhs.gov
Beverly Walker
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Phone: 7704888524
Email: vhz4@cdc.gov
Emery Csulak
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Phone: 4107868954
Email: Emery.Csulak@cms.hhs.gov
Cullen Cowley
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Phone: 3017963900
Email: Cullen.Cowley@fda.hhs.gov
James Ellis
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Phone: 3014436035
Email: JEllis@hrsa.gov
Heather H. McClane
Indian Health Service (IHS)
Phone: 3014431116
Email: Heather.McClane@ihs.gov
Celeste DadeVinson
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Phone: 3014026201
Email: celeste.dadevinson@nih.gov
Kamran Khaliq
Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Phone: 2022059207
Email: SOP@oig.hhs.gov or Kamran.Khaliq@oig.hhs.gov
Julia White
Office of the Secretary (OS) and Program Support Center (PSC)
Phone: 3019455501
Email: Julia.White@hhs.gov
Ammar Ahmad
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Phone: 2402760128
Email: Ammar.Ahmad@samhsa.hhs.gov
Submitted Personal Information
If you choose to provide HHS with personal information for example by completing a “Contact Us” form, leaving a comment, sending email, or completing a survey we may use that information to respond to your message and/or help us get you the information or services you requested. Submitting personal information (name, address, telephone number, email address, etc.) is voluntary and is not required to access information on our website.
We retain the information only for as long as necessary to respond to your question or request, in most cases no longer than three months. Information submitted electronically is maintained and destroyed as required by the Federal Records Act and records schedules of the National Archives and Records Administration. It may be subject to disclosure in certain cases (for example, if required by a Freedom of Information Act request, court order, or Congressional access request, or if authorized by a Privacy Act System of Records Notice). It is subject to the Privacy Act if maintained in a Privacy Act system.
For more information, see:
Interaction with Children Online
The Department will take all reasonable steps necessary to protect the privacy and safety of any child from whom information is collected, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). A child’s parent or guardian is required to provide consent before HHS collects, uses, or shares personal information from a child under age 13.
Information and instructions will be provided by the specific Web page that collects information about a child. The Web page will specify exactly what the information will be used for, who will see it, and how long it will be kept.
HHS on Third Party Sites
We maintain accounts on thirdparty websites, such as social media sites, as tools to better interact with the public. The security and privacy policies of thirdparty websites apply to your activity on those sites. Users of thirdparty websites often share information with the general public, user community, and/or the thirdparty operating the website. You should review the privacy policies of all websites before using them and ensure that you understand how your information may be used. You should also adjust privacy settings on your account on any thirdparty website to match your preferences.
HHS Accounts
Common thirdparty website privacy policies used by HHS include:
Information Collected and Used from ThirdParty Websites
If you have an account/profile with a thirdparty website, and choose to follow, like, friend, or comment on a thirdparty website managed by HHS, certain personal information associated with your account may be made available to us based on the privacy policies of the thirdparty website and your privacy settings within that website. We do not share personally identifiable information made available through these websites.
HHS conducts and publishes a Privacy Impact Assessment for each use of a thirdparty website. Each use of a thirdparty website may have unique features or practices. HHS sometimes collects and uses the information made available through thirdparty websites. To learn more, review the published assessments.
Automatically Collected Infomation
When you browse through our website, we use Google’s Universal Analytics (UA) software to gather and temporarily store a variety of information about your visit. However, this information cannot be used to identify you as an individual. The basic information we collect during your visit includes:
- The name of the domain you use to access the Internet (for example, Verizon.com, if you are using a
Verizon online account, or stanford.edu, if you are connecting from Stanford University’s domain);
- The date and time of your visit to our website;
- The pages and documents you viewed on our website;
- The URL of the website you visited prior to ours;
- The type and version of your Web browser and operating system; and
- Your location at the time of your visit, down to the citylevel
We do not associate any of the data we collect with you as an individual. Instead, we aggregate this data from all visits in order to improve our website and provide a better user experience to our visitors. The aggregate data is available only to Web managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. It is retained only for as long as needed for proper analysis. The Google Analytics Privacy Policy is available at https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/
Cookies
Websites can automatically place small text files, known as “cookies,” on the computers of their visitors. So long as they do not expire or get deleted, cookies identify the unique browser used by the visitor. On each subsequent visit to the website, the visitor’s browser will retrieve the cookie, allowing us to the number of return visitors. HHS uses “cookies” to test and optimize our website design and content. We use two types of cookies on our websites:
- We use session cookies to gather data for technical purposes, such as improving navigation through our website and generating statistics about how the website is used. Session cookies are temporary text files that expire when you leave our website. When cookies expire, they are automatically deleted from your computer. We do not use session cookies to collect personal information, and we do not share data collected from session cookies.
- We use multisession cookies, or persistent cookies, to customize our website for frequent visitors and to test variations of website design and content. Multisession cookies are cookies that are stored over more than a single session on your computer. We do not use multisession cookies to collect personal information, and we do not share data collected from multisession cookies. Our multisession cookies are set to expire no more than two years after your last visit to our website. After two years, they are automatically deleted from your computer. HHS is unable to identify an individual by using such technologies.
You can take actions to block cookies by opting out . Blocking session cookies from your computer will not affect your access to the content and tools on our website. Blocking multisession or persistent cookies may affect the personalization of the information on those sites.
Website Security
This site is maintained by the U.S. Government. It is protected by federal laws. You can be arrested and prosecuted for violating these laws.
For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we use software programs to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. In the event of law enforcement investigations and as part of any required legal process, information from these sources may be used to help identify an individual.