- This website is provided as a public service by the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense-Public Affairs.
- Information presented on this website is considered public information and may
be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image
credits is requested.
- Privacy Act Statement - If you choose to provide us with personal
information - like filling out a Contact Us form with e-mail and/or postal addresses
- we only use that information to respond to your message or request. We will only
share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry
relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. We never create individual
profiles or give it to any private organizations. Defense.gov never collects information
for commercial marketing. While you must provide an e-mail address or postal address
for a response other than those generated automatically in response to questions
or comments that you may submit, we recommend that you NOT include any other personal
information, especially Social Security numbers. The Social Security Administration
offers additional guidance on sharing your Social Security number.
- We maintain a variety of physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect
your personal information. For site security purposes and to ensure that this service
remains available to all users, this government computer system employs software
programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload
or change information, or otherwise cause damage.
- Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made
to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no
other purposes and are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with National
Archives and Records Administration guidelines.
- Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service
are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.
- If you have any questions or comments about the information presented here, please
forward them to us using the our Contact Us
page.
Use of Measurement and Customization Technology
This website uses measurement and customization technology known as a "cookies."
Cookies are used to remember a user's online interactions with a website or online
application in order to conduct measurement and analysis of usage or to customize
the user's experience.
There are two kinds of cookies used on this website. A single-session cookie (Tier
1) is a line of text that is stored temporarily on a user's computer and deleted
as soon as the browser is closed. A persistent or multi-session cookie (Tier 2)
is saved to a file on a user's hard drive and is called up the next time that user
visits a website. Use of these cookies does not involve the collection of a visitor's
personally identifiable information (PII).
The Department of Defense does not use the information associated with cookies to
track individual user activity on the Internet outside Defense Department websites,
nor does it share the data obtained through such technologies, without the user's
explicit consent, with other departments or agencies. The Department of Defense
does not keep a database of information obtained from the use of cookies.
Cookies are enabled by default to optimize website functionality and customize user experience. Users can choose not to accept the use of these cookies by changing the settings on their local computer's web browser. The USA.gov website, http://www.usa.gov/optout_instructions.shtml, provides general instructions on how to opt out of cookies and other commonly used web measurement and customization technologies. Opting out of cookies still permits users to access comparable information and services; however, it may take longer to navigate or interact with the website if a user is required to fill out certain information repeatedly.
Specific Technologies/Vendors:
Tier 1 cookies are used for technical purposes to improve a user experience and
to allow users to more easily navigate the website.
Foresee Results software measure user satisfaction and assesses website effectiveness
through optional surveys presented to website visitors. The information gathered
from these surveys is used to identify and prioritize improvements to functional
website elements and content for visitors. Survey users provide ratings and feedback
related to a series of questions about website performance, aesthetics, usability,
user experience, and so forth; however, users are not required to provide any personal
information. Tier 2 cookies are used to remember if the user has already been offered
the survey and to ensure that users are prompted only once every 60 days.
Urchin software collects aggregate statistics of website visitor characteristics,
traffic, and activity. This information is used to assess what content is of most
and least interest, determine technical design specifications, and identify system
performance or problem areas. The software records a variety of data, including
IP addresses (the locations of computers or networks on the Internet), unique visits,
page views, hits, referring websites, and which hyperlinks have been clicked . Tier
2 cookies are used to distinguish between summary statistics for users who have
been to the site before and those that are visiting the site the for the first time.
The Department of Defense does not gather, request, record, require, collect or
track any Internet users' PII through these processes.
Defense.gov uses Tier 2 cookies to remember whether a website visitor prefers to
view the default homepage geared toward the general public or the alternative homepage
geared toward Defense Department civilians, servicemembers, veterans, and their
families.
Use of Third-party Websites and Applications
Third-party websites and applications that are not owned, operated, or controlled by the Department of Defense are integral to Internet-based operations across the Department of Defense and used to augment official communication. These capabilities include, but are not limited to, networking services, media sharing services, wikis and data mashups. A list of the Defense Department's authorized pages and uses of these services is listed at www.defense.gov/registeredsites/socialmediasites.aspx. These sites may collect PII and may make it available to the Department of Defense and other users; however, the PII is not collected on behalf of, nor is it provided specifically for, the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense does not harvest and additionally collect, maintain, share or otherwise use such PII for any purpose other than that for which it is made available to all users.