Web Site Policies

This page describes MGI.gov’s compliance with the Office of Management and Budget Policies for Federal Public Web Sites. It addresses:

• Accessibility
• FOIA
• Copyright
• Photographs
• Linking
• Records Management
• Search
• Security and Privacy
• Disclaimer

Accessibility

MGI.gov is committed to providing access to its Web site to members of the public and federal employees with disabilities. To meet this commitment, we comply with the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 508 requires that individuals with disabilities seeking information or services have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to members of the public without disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us. Section 508 also requires us to ensure that federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of information and data by federal employees without disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on us.

If you use assistive technology (such as a Braille reader, a screen reader, or TTY) and the format of any material on this Web site interferes with your ability to access information, please contact the Webmaster. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate the nature of your accessibility problem, the preferred format in which to receive the material, the Web address of the requested material, and your contact information.

Freedom of Information Act

We are required under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to disclose records requested in writing by any person, unless the records or parts of the records are protected by any of nine exemptions in the law. The Department of Justice offers the full text of the Freedom of Information Act.

Copyright

Most of the materials on MGI.gov are in the public domain. We request that MGI.gov be acknowledged as the source in any subsequent use of its information. Some materials on this site have been contributed by private individuals, companies, or organizations and include copyright protection. It is the user's responsibility to contact MGI.gov and the copyright owners and obtain the written permission required under U.S. copyright law before using these materials.

Links may be made to MGI.gov from personal and organization Web pages. We request that you link to our site rather than downloading portions of the site to another Web server so viewers will see the most up-to-date information.

MGI.gov materials may not be used to state or imply the endorsement of a commercial product, service, or activity or be used in any other manner that might mislead the public.

Photographs

Many photos on MGI.gov are copyright-protected. Please contact the Webmaster for information about the copyright status of particular photos. It is the user's responsibility to contact copyright owners and obtain the written permission required under U.S. copyright law before using these materials.

Linking

MGI.gov contains hyperlinks to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. External links are identified in the link text or an accompanying description. These links add value to the site by providing visitors with additional information about topics and eliminating duplicate content.

MGI.gov does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information on nonfederal government Web sites. Links to particular items in hypertext are not intended as endorsements of any views expressed, products or services offered on outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring those sites.

External Web sites are welcome to link to MGI.gov, as long as they do not imply that MGI.gov endorses or supports their Web site.

Records Management

MGI.gov manages Web site records in accordance with federal and U.S. Department of Commerce policies.

Search

MGI.gov includes a search box on every page. The search function permits the searching of all MGI.gov content, displays search results in order of relevancy to search criteria, and provides quick response times. Advanced search options and search help are also offered.

Security and Privacy Notices

Security Notice

This Web site is part of a Federal computer system used to accomplish Federal functions. The Department of Commerce monitors this Web site for security purposes to ensure it remains available to all users and to protect information in the system. By accessing this Web site, you are expressly consenting to these monitoring activities.

Unauthorized attempts to defeat or circumvent security features, to use the system for other than intended purposes, to deny service to authorized users, to access, obtain, alter, damage, or destroy information, or otherwise interfere with the system or its operation are prohibited. Evidence of such acts may be disclosed to law enforcement authorities and result in criminal prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (Pub. L. 990474) and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-294), (18 U.S.C. 1030), or other applicable criminal laws.

Privacy Notice

We collect no personal information about you when you visit MGI.gov, unless otherwise stated, unless you choose to provide this information to us. However, we collect and store certain information automatically. What we collect and store automatically is:

• The Internet Protocol (IP) address of the domain from which you access the Internet (i.e. 123.456.789.012) whether yours individually or provided as a proxy by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) the date and time you access our site
• The pages you peruse (recorded by the text and graphics files that compose that page) and the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to our site.

We use the summary statistics to help us make our site more useful to visitors, such as assessing what information is of most and least interest to visitors, and for other purposes such as determining the site's technical design specifications and identifying system performance or problem areas. This information is not shared with anyone beyond the support staff of this Web site, except when required by law enforcement investigation, and is used only as a source of anonymous statistical information.

You may choose to provide us with personal information, such as in an e-mail message containing your comments or questions. We use this information to improve our service to you or to respond to your request. There are times when your message is forwarded, as e-mail, to other federal employees who may be better able to help you. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, we do not share our e-mail with any other outside organizations.

Disclaimer

This system is made available by the United States Government and complies with the Web disclaimer policies of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of originators expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

We reserve the right to make all decisions in regard to what material is added to MGI.gov, including the right to reject submissions.