NEH.gov Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Last updated: July 11, 2019

NEH's Privacy Program page

  1. Privacy Statement
  2. Personal Information
  3. Information Collected and Stored Automatically
  4. Cookies
  5. Third-party Websites and Applications
  6. Other Web Measurement and Customization Tools
  7. External Links
  8. Use of Content from this Website
  9. Security


PRIVACY STATEMENT

Maintaining the privacy of our users is important to us and our privacy policy is clear. We will collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information to us.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

If you provide us with information about yourself via e-mail or our website, we will only use your information for the purposes described at the point of collection, such as to send you information or to respond to your questions or comments. If you provide contact information, NEH staff or our contractors or partners may contact you to clarify your comment or question, or to learn about your satisfaction with our services.

We also may share information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency. In other limited circumstances, such as responses to requests from Congress and private individuals, we may be required by law to disclose information you submit.

We do not sell any personal information to third parties. We never collect information or create individual profiles for commercial or marketing purposes.

If you apply online to NEH programs, we use the information you submit to process the application, which may include determining eligibility, evaluating the application, selecting recipients, and administering the award program. Disclosure of the information is voluntary. Panelists and other third parties may assist in the evaluation of applications, in which case NEH will take appropriate security measures with respect to the information provided to such individuals for review. NEH may also use or disclose the information it collects as required by law and for governmental purposes such as statistical research, analysis of trends, Congressional oversight, and the other routine uses set forth in the systems of records notice (“SORN”) published by NEH in the Federal Register. NEH ordinarily will not publicly disclose the contents of applications that NEH does not select for funding, except as set forth in the SORN. Failure to provide the information solicited in the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the program may result in rejection of the application.

INFORMATION COLLECTED AND STORED AUTOMATICALLY

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the website, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. We automatically collect and store only the following information about your visit:

  1. The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our website;
  2. The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
  3. The date and time you access our site;
  4. The pages you visit; and
  5. If you linked to the NEH website from another website, the address of that website.

We use this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors and to learn about the number of visitors to our site and the types of technology our visitors use. We do not track or record information about individuals and their visits.

COOKIES

When you visit a page on NEH.gov, the internet browser on your computer may download and save a small file, commonly called a “cookie”, from NEH.gov so that the website can recognize your specific computer and browser when you use NEH.gov in the future. We use cookies to improve our website and to better understand how the public is using the website. We do not use cookies to track your interactions on non-NEH.gov websites.

Cookies fall into two categories, based on the length of time they remain active:

  • Single-session cookies (also known as session cookies) last only as long as a web browser is open. Once the browser is closed, the data files on your computer are deleted.
  • Multi-session cookies (also known as persistent cookies) last beyond a single session of browsing a website; this allows a website to recognize a computer or user for defined amount of time.

Our website uses both session and multi-session cookies. We use single-session cookies for technical purposes, such as enabling better navigation through our website. We use multi-session cookies to anonymously track how visitors interact with our website, including where they came from, what they did on the site, and whether they completed any pre-determined tasks while on the site. These multi-session cookies do not collect any personally identifiable information (PII). Under the framework of the Office of Management and Budget’s “Guidance on Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technology” (OMB M-10-22), our multi-session cookies qualify as Tier II use.

If you do not want cookies placed on your computer, you can set your browser to block them. Instructions on how to delete cookies is available at: http://www.usa.gov/optout-instructions.shtml.

We also use a third-party analytics provider (currently Google Analytics) to analyze the data collected through the session and persistent metrics cookies. The third-party analytics provider does not receive personally identifiable information through these cookies and does not combine, match, or cross-reference NEH.gov information with any other information. Please review the Google Analytics privacy policy for additional information. If you would like to opt-out of all Google Analytics measurements, you can download Google’s browser plug-in, which is available at: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

For videos embedded in our website, a third-party video service provider (e.g., YouTube) sets a multi-session cookie when you click to play the video. These cookies are stored on your computer's hard drive and allow the third-party provider to record and track websites that you have visited and which videos you have played. The third-party provider uses this information, among other things, to maintain accurate statistics of video use and to customize the video service for individual users. If you want to block third-party provider cookies, you can again use the opt-out instructions available at: http://www.usa.gov/optout-instructions.shtml.

As of February 9, 2017, content or functionality from the following third parties may be present on some NEH.gov pages:

  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Snapchat
  • Instagram
  • Medium

We will update this list on a regular basis to reflect the third party providers of content or functionality that are commonly used on our website. Further information about cookies associated with the websites identified above can be found at:  https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy; https://twitter.com/privacy; https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies/; https://www.snap.com/en-US/privacy/privacy-policy/; https://help.instagram.com/155833707900388; https://medium.com/policy/medium-privacy-policy-f03bf92035c9#.j36mc7umw.

THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND APPLICATIONS

We use third-party websites and applications to publicize agency events, increase awareness of NEH programs, and interact with those interested in the agency work. We do not use third-party websites and applications to solicit and collect personally identifiable information (PII) from individuals, and we do not transmit or store any PII collected by third party websites and applications.

OTHER WEB MEASUREMENTS AND CUSTOMIZATION TOOLS

NEH uses CrazyEgg to obtain information on how visitors are interacting with NEH.gov pages. This allows NEH to evaluate and to modify its websites to improve value and usability. The data CrazyEgg collects includes information about how visitors navigate around a web page and the most commonly clicked links on a specific web page. CrazyEgg does not collect personally identifiable information. The Crazy Egg Privacy Policy is available at https://www.crazyegg.com/privacy. Instructions for how to opt-out of tracking by Crazy Egg when you visit www.neh.gov are available at:  https://www.crazyegg.com/opt-out.

EXTERNAL LINKS

We provide links from our website to external websites because they provide information that may interest our users. This is provided as a convenience only. External links do not constitute an endorsement by NEH of the information, opinions, products, or services presented on the external website, or of any websites linked to it.

We do not guarantee that external websites comply with the requirements of Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act. We are not responsible for the legality or accuracy of information on externally linked websites, or for any costs incurred while using externally linked websites. We cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials in externally linked websites and are not responsible for transmissions you may receive from externally linked websites.

Once you link to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy and terms and conditions of the new website. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any website you link to from ours, especially if you share any personal information. Be informed. You are the person best qualified to protect your own privacy.

External links on this website are intended to support NEH's mission. They are not intended to support private or commercial organizations or businesses. NEH may use links to .org, .gov, .edu, .mil or other non-profit websites that share interests consistent with NEH's mission because of their general non-commercial, public-interest nature. NEH may use links to .com, .net, and other commercial domains if they support users' needs and are relevant to NEH's mission. NEH may add external links to or remove external links from its website at any time, in its sole discretion.

Except for partnerships, NEH does not agree to reciprocal link arrangements.

USE OF CONTENT FROM THIS WEBSITE

Generally, materials produced by Federal agencies such as NEH are in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. However, not all materials appearing on this website are in the public domain.

Images of artworks and other materials on this website are protected by copyright laws and other restrictions as well and are provided with the permission of the individual intellectual property rights holder(s) without charge solely for personal, educational, informational, and noncommercial uses and purposes. We expressly prohibit the copying of any protected materials on this website, except for the purposes of fair use as defined in the copyright law.

COMMERICAL USE IS RESTRICTED

NEH strictly prohibits unauthorized commercial publication or exploitation of protected text, images, content or other materials from our website. Anyone wishing to use any of the protected materials on our website for commercial use, publication, or any purpose other than fair use as defined by law, must request and receive prior written permission from the individual intellectual property rights holder(s). Please note that it is your responsibility to identify the individual intellectual property rights holder(s) and to obtain permission before making use of this material in any way.

WARRANTY

By downloading, printing, or otherwise using materials from our website, you agree and warrant that you will limit their use of such materials to fair use and will not violate the rights of any individual or entity. Because we do not know how you are using information and materials found on our website, we do not make any express or implied warranties about the information contained in this website for your particular use and are not responsible or liable for any claim, loss, or damage arising from your arising from your particular use.

SECURITY

For site security purposes and to ensure that this website 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. Anyone using this system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if such monitoring reveals evidence of possible abuse or criminal activity, such evidence may be provided to appropriate law enforcement officials. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information are strictly prohibited and may be punishable by law, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996.