Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy


Website Privacy Policy

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence website (DNI.GOV or ODNI.GOV ) is provided as a public service by the ODNI on behalf of the Director of National Intelligence. This website does not collect personal information about you unless you choose to provide such information.

Browsing ODNI Websites

The content of this website may be browsed anonymously. For statistical purposes, this website automatically logs certain information about your visit,
such as:

  • The Internet Domain and Internet Protocol (IP) address from which you access our website.
  • The type of web browser and operating system of the computer used to access our site.
  • The date and time you visit the site.
  • The pages you visit on our site.
  • If you linked to our websites from another website, the address of that website.
  • If you linked to our websites from a search website, the address of the website and the search term you used.


This information does not identify you personally. The information gathered helps us to assess the content most interesting to visitors, determine technical design specifications, and identify system performance issues.

Use of Cookies

This website does not use persistent cookies. It does, however, use non-persistent or "session" cookies to make it easier for you to use the features on our web pages. Session cookies last only as long as your web browser remains open and are deleted from our servers as soon as you leave our website. The ODNI does not collect or maintain any information from your session cookies.

Your Personal Information

Any personal information you provide in the context of an inquiry or request for information will be used only to respond to your inquiry or request. We will not share your personal information with another government agency unless you have expressly requested we do so, or as otherwise required by law. In addition, the ODNI will not create individual profiles from your information or provide your information to any private organization for commercial purposes.

If you engage in a specialized business process through another ODNI-sponsored website (e.g., to submit a resume; to provide online comments, etc.) you will be informed of additional privacy procedures at the point of entry for that process.

Website Security

For site security purposes, and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, this government computer system monitors network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, to defeat or circumvent a security feature, to interfere with system access or availability, or to cause damage or utilize this system for other than its intended purposes. 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, to defeat or circumvent a security feature, to interfere with system access or availability, or to cause damage or utilize this system for other than its intended purposes, are strictly prohibited and may be punishable by law, including but not limited to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. 1030) and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act of 1996.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.

Links to Other Sites

ODNI websites may contain information with links or pointers to information created and maintained by other U.S. government agencies and, in some instances, to state, local, tribal or private organizations. These links are provided as a service to you as a user. The ODNI neither controls nor guarantees the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on another website. Once you link to another site, you will be notified that you are leaving the official ODNI website and will be subject to the privacy and security policies of the  website to which you are linking.

Privacy Documents

Systems of Records Notices

A system of records is a group of any records under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifier assigned to the individual. The Privacy Act requires each agency to publish systems of records notices (SORNs) in the Federal Register to identify the purpose for which personally identifiable information (PII) is collected, from whom and what type of PII is collected, how the PII is shared externally, and how to access and correct any PII maintained by the ODNI.

 

View all ODNI SORNs as published in the Federal Register.

 

Social Media Privacy Policy

The president’s Transparency and Open Government Memorandum of January 21, 2009 and the resulting OMB Open Government Directive of December 8, 2009 direct Federal departments and agencies to harness new technologies to engage the public, focusing on the values of transparency, participation and collaboration.

The Digital Government Strategy, released by the White House on May 23, 2012, requires that federal agencies adopt an “information driven,” customer-centric approach to electronic communications – one that allows the American public to “shape, share and consume information, whenever and however they want it.”

More recently, the Privacy Best Practice for Social Media, released by the CIO Council in July 2013, noted that social media have an important role to play in the Federal Government’s communications strategy and explained that the Federal Government can use social media to share information as well as to enable Federal agencies to learn about issues being discussed by different audiences.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) maintains an active presence on third-party social media sites and networks, and uses a growing number of new media tools from third party providers (e.g. Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr) to augment or expand the reach of our official communications at www.DNI.gov and to increase public understanding of the ODNI and the Intelligence Community. Third-party providers – not the ODNI – design and operate these social media sites and applications.  ODNI is only one of many users.

The ODNI’s policy regarding its use of third party websites and social media tools is outlined below.

Privacy on Third Party Websites

Activity on third-party web sites is governed by the security and privacy policies of the third party sites. By using a third-party social media website, you may be providing that third-party with personally identifiable information (PII). You are encouraged to review the privacy policy of the third-party provider prior to registering or using the site to fully understand how your PII may be collected or used by the third-party provider. You are also encouraged to familiarize yourself and adjust the privacy settings on your account on any third-party site to match your preferences.

Visits to ODNI Official Social Media Sites

When you visit ODNI pages hosted by third-party provider websites and applications, your activity is governed by the security and privacy policies of those third party providers. ODNI will not seek or obtain PII about you or your visit from the third-party provider site or application. Nor will  ODNI collect, maintain or disseminate PII from users of third-party social media sites who “follow,” “friend,” “like” or take other similar actions with respect to content on official ODNI pages hosted by those sites.

Information that You Provide to the ODNI

You do not need provide ODNI with any personal information or create a user account to access information on our social media accounts.  However some types of interactions (for example platform-specific interactions on social media or responses to our requests for your feedback) may necessitate either the creation of a user account or the voluntary submission of information that would allow us to properly credit you for your feedback and to potentially follow up with you regarding your question, comment or request.

Any personal information you provide in the context of an official inquiry or request for information will be used only to respond to your inquiry or request. We will not share your personal information with another government agency unless you have expressly requested we do so, or as otherwise required by law as described in the Site Security notice below.

Whenever third party platforms or social media services provide visitors the capability  to engage anonymously, we retain this option for visitors to our official presences on those sites.   However, if your feedback or communication with us contains your name, we will not redact that information from any posting of your communication.  If your feedback or communication contains Social Security Numbers, home or business addresses, email addresses, or phone numbers, ODNI will either not post your communication at all, remove the information prior to publication, or remove the information from the communication when detected.

How Your Information Is Used

You are encouraged to share your feedback, ideas, and concerns with ODNI via our official social media pages or applications, hosted by third-party providers. Note that information, you voluntarily submit to or publish on an ODNI page on a third-party provider site may be treated as public information. 

We may, for example, publish compilations of messages or feedback collected through our official websites or official social media pages and provide them to national leaders, members of the press, or other individuals outside of the Federal Government. We may also use this same information for analytic research projects, such as nicglobaltrends.tumblr.com, transparency programs like icontherecord.tumblr.com or in support of special initiatives such as the DNI’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communication Technologies.

ODNI websites and official social media presences comply with the records management and disposition policies adopted by the ODNI. Content publicly posted as a result of ODNI’s use of social media is considered a Federal record and is maintained accordingly. Feedback or communications that ODNI receives but does not post  to its official websites or social media presences are not considered Federal records and are not retained.

Moderating Your Feedback

If you choose to engage with the ODNI through a third-party provider social media website or application, ODNI reserves the right to moderate, remove or reject (not post) feedback that contains:

  • Social Security Numbers, home or business addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, or other personally identifiable information
  • Vulgar or abusive language
  • Personal attacks of any kind
  • Offensive terms that target specific group
  • Spam or feedback that are clearly “off topic”
  • Commercial promotions
  • Solicitation of funds
  • Political activity
  • Reports of criminal or suspicious activity – if you have information for law enforcement, please contact your local policy agency
  • Unsolicited proposals or other business ideas or inquiries
  • Classified or proprietary information, or information protected by other statutory or regulatory regimes (e.g., intellectual property; copyrighted materials; licensed materials; privacy protected information; etc.)
  • Any claims, demands, informal or formal complaints, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notices or processes
  • Duplicative posts
  • Embedded links to external websites or applications.

 

The ODNI does not discriminate against any views, but reserves the right to remove or reject (not post) feedback that does not adhere to these standards.

In addition, the views expressed by members of the public in postings on official pages maintained by the ODNI on third-party social media websites and applications do not reflect the official views of the ODNI or the U.S. government nor does ODNI guarantee the accuracy of information contained in posted communications.

Due to the volume and uncertain content of feedback and queries received from the general public through its official sites and social media activities, ODNI cannot guarantee an individual response to all queries or that every comment received will be published.

How Your Information Is Used Our Use of Web Analytic Tools

The ODNI uses a third-party analytics provider (currently Google Analytics) to analyze data from cookies. The third-party analytics provider does not receive PII through these cookies and is prohibited from combining, matching or cross-referencing DNI.gov information with any other information. We have also limited the provider’s ability to see your full IP address (a process known as “IP masking”). Please review Google Analytics’ privacy policy for additional information.

ODNI websites use multi-session cookies to differentiate between new and returning users. These cookies also gather aggregated statistical data and measurements on website usage that ODNI uses to improve website functionality. These cookies do not collect PII about you and are not persistent (i.e., ODNI does not use these cookies to track your use of the Internet.  If you do not wish to have these cookies placed on your computer, you can adjust your Web browser’s settings. Instructions for disabling or opting out of cookies in the most popular browsers can be found at usa.gov.

We may use data that your site visit automatically generates for statistical analyses to assess, for example, what information is of interest to users, what technical design elements users prefer, and how users rate system performance. This allows us to make general improvements to our sites as well as to offer tailored content to DNI email subscribers (e.g., a follow-up message to subscribers interested in a specific topic based on information they have provided or automatically generated data).

In some instances, third party platforms, such as Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter, offer their own embedded analytics that provide users with aggregate information that ODNI uses in the same limited manner described above. These services generally do not provide, nor do we seek, IP related information.  Rather these analytic tools commonly available to all users of a given platform allow ODNI to assess engagement with specific content and to evaluate engagement trends over time.

 

The ODNI will not sell, rent, exchange or otherwise disclose your information to any organization for commercial purposes.

Site Security

ODNI takes reasonable precautions to protect ODNI sites and information automatically collected by the ODNI or voluntarily submitted to an official ODNI page on a third-party site.  Access to official ODNI accounts on third-party sites is limited to the individuals who administer those accounts, and all official ODNI accounts are clearly labeled.

Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.  We may share information with other federal agencies in response to lawful law enforcement requests or  perceived security threats arising on ODNI’s official presences on sites hosted by third-party providers.

Copyright

ODNI cannot authorize the use of any third party copyrighted materials, including material from third-party social media websites and applications, on ODNI websites.  Users must obtain all necessary authorizations prior to posting any material on ODNI websites.  Users who provide feedback via a blog, e-mail or messaging system are responsible for ensuring that they are authorized to provide all of the text and information conveyed to ODNI with the feedback.  Users are cautioned that if they fail to obtain the appropriate authorizations, they may be liable for copyright infringement.

ODNI-created material in the public domain, including ODNI’s official presences on social media sites, may be copied, distributed, and reproduced without obtaining ODNI permission.  When such information is copied, distributed or reproduced, it is appropriate to cite ODNI or the relevant ODNI component or office as the source of the information.

For ODNI-supplied information that is copyrighted, permission to copy, distribute, or reproduce the material must be obtained from the copyright owner.  ODNI is not responsible for the user’s misuse of third party copyrighted material.

Disclaimer of Endorsement

An official ODNI presence on a third-party social media website or application may include information with links or pointers to information created and maintained by other U.S. government agencies and, in some instances, by state, local, tribal, or private entities. These links are provided as a service to you as a user and should not be viewed as an endorsement by the ODNI of any content, products, or services. Acceptance of “likes,” “follows,” “reblogs or other similar social requests does not indicate ODNI’s endorsement of those individuals or views.

Disclaimer of Liability

Neither the U.S. Government nor the ODNI endorses, guarantees or controls the feedback or opinions of visitors to our official pages hosted by third-party providers, and expressly disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or other injury resulting from reliance on the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of such information. Further, the ODNI’s use of third-party social media sites does not, and is not intended to, constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring of the providers of the site, the information or products presented on the site, or information, products, or services that may be reached through links to another website.

508 Compliance

The ODNI cannot guarantee compliance of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (Accessibility Requirements) by providers of third-party social media websites or applications.

Other Limitations

Any communication made by a public user to the ODNI via a third-party blog, e-mail or messaging system will not be considered an official notice to the ODNI, or to any official or employee of ODNI, for any purpose.

Media Inquiries

All media inquiries should be submitted to the ODNI Public Affairs Office through normal channels.

Official ODNI Activities on Third Party Websites

Below is the current list of official ODNI pages on third party websites that are governed by the preceding policy, along with a link to the host website’s privacy policy.

Facebook www.facebook.com/dni.gov Privacy Policy
www.facebook.com/informationsharingenvironment
www.facebook.com/odni.nic
Twitter    www.twitter.com/odnigov       Privacy Policy
www.twitter.com/icontherecord
www.twitter.com/ODNI_NIC
www.twitter.com/IARPAnews
www.twitter.com/NCSCgov
www.twitter.com/shareandprotect
Tumblr www.icontherecord.tumblr.com Privacy Policy
www.odnigov.tumblr.com
www.NICglobaltrends.tumblr.com
 Flickr  www.flickr.com/odnigov   Privacy Policy
 Scribd   www.scribd.com/odnigov      Privacy Policy
 YouTube   www.youtube.com/odnigov   Privacy Policy