U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Privacy
Thank you for visiting the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Web site. We are committed to respecting your right to privacy and will protect it when you visit our Web site.
This Privacy Policy explains our online information practices only, including how we collect and use your personal information. It covers information collected on this Web site. Our Privacy Policy does not apply to third party Web sites that you are able to reach from our Web site, nor does it cover practices of other elements within the Department of Transportation. We encourage you to read the Privacy Policies of those elements and third parties to learn how they collect and use information about you.
To assist you with reading our Privacy Policy, we have provided answers to the following questions you may find most important:
When you visit our Web site, we collect information about your visit that does not identify you personally. We collect the IP address (an IP address is a number that is assigned to each computer connected to the Internet) from which you access this Web site. We can tell the type of computer, browser, and Web service you are using. We also know the date, time, and pages you visit. Collecting this information helps us design the site to suit your needs.
When you visit our Web site, we may request and collect the following categories of personal information from you:
Our principal purpose for collecting personal information online is to provide you with the information you need and want, and to facilitate the use of our Web site.
We will only use your information for the purposes for which you have provided this information, or for the purposes required under the law. (In order to learn more about how we provide choices to you regarding our use of your information, visit the "Choices" section in this Privacy Policy.)
Generally, our uses of information collected online include:
We may share personally identifiable information you provide to us online with appropriate representatives within the Department of Transportation (seehttp://www.dot.gov/ for information on DOT Operating Administrations and related entities), other federal government agencies, or other designated representatives as needed to facilitate your request or transaction.
Additionally, we may be required by law to share information we collect with authorized law enforcement, homeland security, and national security activities (See also the "What are your rights under the Privacy Act of 1974?" section in this Privacy Policy).
Throughout our Web site, we will let you know whether the information we ask you to provide is voluntary or required. By providing personally identifiable information, you are granting us consent to use this personally identifiable information for the primary purpose for which you are providing it. Additionally, we will ask for you to grant us consent before using your voluntarily provided information for any secondary purposes, other than those required under the law.
Our website does not intentionally collect information from children under the age of 13. If we choose to collect personal information from children, we will comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). To find out more about COPPA, please click on the following link:www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/childrens.html.
A "cookie" is a small text file stored on your computer that makes it easy for you to move around a Web site without continually re-entering your name, password, preferences, for example.
We use "session" cookies on our Web site. This means we store the cookie on your computer only during your visit to our Web site. After you turn off your computer or stop using the Internet, the cookie disappears with your personal information. DOT Web sites may use session cookies for technical purposes such as to enable better navigation through the site, or to allow you to customize your preferences for interacting with the site.
A few FHWA Web sites may also use "persistent" or "multi-session" cookies on our Web site. This means we store the cookie on your computer even after you visit our Web site. Some of these cookies may collect your personal information. You will be prompted to “opt-in” to the use of cookies that collect your personal information. DOT Web sites may use these cookies to remember you between visits so, for example, you can save your customized preference settings for future visits.
You also have the right to "opt-out" of the use Web measurement and cookie technologies. If you "opt-out," your access to information on our Web site will not be limited. Instructions on how to opt-out of these technologies.
We are committed to properly securing the information we collect online. To help us accomplish this, we take the following steps:
Tampering with the Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration Web site is against the law. If anyone tries to tamper with it, they may be punished under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.
The Privacy Act of 1974 protects the personal information the federal government keeps on you in "systems of records (SOR)" (information an agency controls that can be retrieved by name or some other personal identifier). The Privacy Act regulates how the government can disclose, share, provide access to, and maintain the personal information that it collects. Not all information collected online is covered by the Privacy Act.
The Act's major provisions require agencies to:
When the Federal Highway Administration collects information from you online that is subject to the Privacy Act (i.e., information to be kept in a SOR), we will provide you, through a link on the Web page from which we collect information, access to our Privacy Act Notice. This Privacy Act Notice will inform you what portion of the information is maintained and retrieved by your name or other personal identifier.
Each Privacy Act Notice will also notify you of the following:
Click here to view our Privacy Act Notices
The FHWA Privacy Officer is Steven Smith. For more information on our privacy practices, or for comments and concerns, please contact the FHWA Privacy Co-Coordinator:
Email: Michael Howell
Phone: (202) 366-5707
