USAID Privacy and Security
Information
Privacy Notice
This section of the page explains how the U.S. Agency for International
Development will handle information we learn about you from your visit to our
web site. The information we receive depends upon what you do when visiting our
site.
- If you visit our site to read or download information, such as country
information or information about one of our projects:
We collect and store only the following information about you: the name
of the domain from which you access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if
you are connecting from an America Online account, or iowa.edu if you are
connecting from the University of Iowa's domain); the date and time you
access our site, the Internet address of the web site from which you linked
directly to our site; and what information you view while you visit our web
site.
We use the information we collect to measure the number of visitors to
the different sections of our site, find out what information is the most
viewed, and to help us make our web site more useful to visitors. This
gathering and storing of information is separate from the activity described
as monitoring in our Security Notice.
The information gathered is used for two purposes: site management and,
in the case of suspected unauthorized activity, for law enforcement and
possible criminal prosecution (see Security Notice).
- If you identify yourself by sending us a comment using our contact page or
an E-mail:
You also may decide to send us personally-identifying information, for
example, in an electronic mail message asking a question or providing us
with a comment or suggestion. We use personally-identifying information to
respond to your comment or suggestion, and to count the number of people
sending us comments. In certain instances, your comment or suggestion may be
forwarded to other U.S. government agencies or departments if they are in
the best position to respond to your message.
We want to be very clear: We will not obtain personally-identifying
information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide
such information to us.
Cookies and other information stored on your computer
In general, this site does NOT use the "cookies" that some Web
sites use to gather and store information about your visits to their sites.
Cookies are essentially tokens of information, such as preferences and
passwords, which some Web servers collect from you when you access them. That
data is stored on your hard drive-not on the Web site's server. Whenever you
visit a "cookie" site, the server looks for its cookie on your hard
drive and, if found, then reads the information it stored there. Cookies
generally are stored in your browser's directory or folder in a file named
cookie.txt (MagicCookie on a Macintosh).
However, you should be aware that on a limited number of pages, the USAID web
site uses persistent "cookies" to only authenticate the identity of
the user. You will also receive a specific notice about this "cookie"
on the page BEFORE the "cookie" is used or "set." USAID uses
this technology in order to:
- maintain the integrity of the information presented; and
- authenticate the identity of the individual user.
USAID takes the safeguarding of any personally identifying information very
seriously. Any information collected using the "cookies" associated
with this section of the USAID web site will be used only in connection with the
administration of this discussion group.
We collect this information only to authenticate your identity while you are
these limited sections of the USAID web site. The "cookie" has no
other function, and USAID will not share any information associated with this
"cookie" with individuals not connected with the administration of
this section of the USAID web site, or with anyone outside USAID.
Further, some of the links on the USAID web site point to non-USAID sites
which may place cookies on your computer. You can expect to be notified that you
are leaving the USAID site when you select one of these links. However, you
should know that the non-USAID site may still place a cookie on your computer
while you are reading the warning message.
If you want to avoid such cookies, we encourage you to set your browser to
notify you when cookies are being set and allow you to reject them. Your
system's help files will explain how to do this.
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Security Notice
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.
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.
We generally will not obtain personally identifying information about you
when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us.
See also Privacy Act Notice.
If monitoring reveals evidence of possible criminal activity, such evidence
may be provided to law enforcement personnel.
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General Disclaimer
Information presented on this Web site is considered public information and may
be distributed or copied freely unless identified as being subject to copyright
protection. In return, we request only that USAID be cited as the source of any
information, photos, and images copied from this site and that any photo credits
or bylines be similarly credited to the photographer or author.
We strongly recommend that USAID data be acquired directly from this Web site
and not through other sources that may change the information in some way or
exclude material crucial to the understanding of that information. While we make
every effort to provide accurate and complete information, some information may
change between site updates. Substantive changes may be noted when content is
next updated.
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Disclaimer of Endorsement
The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to
information created and maintained by other public and private organizations.
These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. We do not
control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any
linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to Web sites
other than a USAID-managed Web site is not intended to assign importance to
those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to
endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or
services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the
sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.
Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or
services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the
information and convenience of the site's visitor's, and does not constitute
endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or
USAID.
The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state
or reflect those of the U.S. Government or the USAID, and shall not be used for
advertising or product endorsement purposes.
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Disclaimer of Liability
Every effort is made to provide accurate and complete information. However, with
the thousands of documents available, often uploaded within short deadlines, we
cannot guarantee that there will be no errors. We make no claims, promises or
guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this
Web site and expressly disclaim liability for errors and omissions in the
contents of this Web site.
With respect to the content of this site, neither the United States
Government, nor USAID, nor their employees and contractors make any warranty,
expressed or implied or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties
of non-infringement of third party rights, title, and the warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to content
available from this USAID Web site or other Internet resources linked from it.
Additionally, neither the U.S. Government nor USAID assume any legal liability
for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, product, or
process disclosed herein nor freedom from computer virus, and do not represent
that use of such information, product, or process would not infringe on
privately owned rights.
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Links to this Web Site or Its Contents
You may freely link to this Web site or any of its content. We ask only that you
identify that the link is to an Internet resource.
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Links to Other Sites
Our Web site has links to other United States Government agencies and to private
organizations, who we believe are relevant to our agency's mission. Once you
link to another site, you are subject to the disclaimers and security and
privacy policies of the new site.
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Copyright Notice
Unless a copyright is indicated, information on this Web site is in the public
domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used without USAID's
permission. We request that USAID be cited as the source of the information and
that any photo credits or bylines be similarly credited to the photographer or
author or USAID, as appropriate.
If a copyright is indicated on a photo, graphic, or any other material,
permission to copy these materials must be obtained from the original source.
This copyright notice does not pertain to information at Web sites other than
this Web site.
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Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Unauthorized attempts to upload information and/or change information on this
Web site is strictly prohibited and is subject to prosecution under Title 18
U.S.C., Sections 1001 and 1030). [See 
