ARPA-H Website Privacy Statement

ARPA-H is a part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Please see the HHS website or the NIH website for detailed information pertaining to the Department's privacy policy.

The following summarizes how ARPA-H will use information we collect about you from your visit to our website. Protecting the privacy of our visitors is of utmost importance to us. Our website links to other ARPA-H and NIH sites, federal agency sites and occasionally, to private organizations. Once you leave the primary ARPA-H.gov site, you are subject to the privacy policy for the site(s) you are visiting. We do not collect any personally identifiable information (PII) about you during your visit to ARPA-H websites unless you choose to provide it to us. We do, however, collect some data about your visit to our website to help us better understand how the public uses the site and how to make it more helpful. We collect information from visitors who read, browse, and/or download information from our website. ARPA-H never collects information for commercial marketing or any purpose unrelated to the ARPA-H mission and goals.

When visitors submit questions or comments to an ARPA-H online form, ARPA-H staff respond to the inquiries and files them. Only designated staff members requiring access to the emails to respond, may view, or answer them.

Information Automatically Collected and Stored

When you browse through any website, certain personal information about you may be collected. We automatically collect and temporarily retain the following information about your visit:

  • The name of the domain you use to access the Internet (for example, aol.com, if you are using an American Online account, or Seattle.edu, if you are connecting from Seattle University's domain);
  • The date and time of your visit;
  • The pages you visited;
  • Demographic and interest data; and,
  • The address of the website you came from when you came to visit.

This information is used for statistical purposes and to help us make our site more useful to visitors. Unless it is specifically stated otherwise, no additional information will be collected about you.

How ARPA-H Uses Cookies

The Office of Management and Budget Memo M-10-22, Guidance for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies, allows Federal agencies to use session and persistent cookies.

When you visit any website, its server may generate a piece of text known as a "cookie" to place on your computer. The cookie allows the server to "remember" specific information about your visit while you are connected. The cookie makes it easier for you to use the dynamic features of web pages. Cookies from ARPA-H web pages only collect information about your browser’s visit to the site; they do not collect personal information about you. There are two types of cookies, single session (temporary) and multi-session (persistent). Session cookies last only as long as your web browser is open. Once you close your browser, the cookie disappears. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer for longer periods.

  • Session Cookies: We use session cookies for technical purposes such as to enable better navigation through our site. These cookies let our server know that you are continuing a visit to our site. The OMB Memo 10-22 Guidance defines our use of session cookies as "Usage Tier 1—Single Session." The policy says, "This tier encompasses any use of single session web measurement and customization technologies."
  • Persistent Cookies: We use persistent cookies to enable web analytics to differentiate between new and returning visitors. Persistent cookies remain on your computer between visits to our site until they expire. The OMB Memo 10-22 Guidance defines our use of persistent cookies as "Usage Tier 2—Multi-session without Personally Identifiable Information (PII)." The policy says, "This tier encompasses any use of multi-session Web measurement and customization technologies when no PII is collected."
  • How to Opt Out or Disable Cookies: If you do not wish to have session or persistent cookies placed on your computer, you can disable them using your web browser. If you opt out of cookies, you will still have access to all information and resources at arpa-h.gov. Instructions for disabling or opting out of cookies in the most popular browsers are located at http://www.usa.gov/optout_instructions.shtml. Please note that by following the instructions to opt-out of cookies, you will disable cookies from all sources, not just those from arpa-h.gov.

Personally Provided Information

You do not have to give us personal information to visit our websites.

If you choose to provide us with additional information about yourself through an e-mail message, form, survey, etc., we may store the names, addresses, and other information you provide to respond to the request or to otherwise resolve the subject matter of your E-mail. This information will not be used for any other purpose than to respond to your request.

However, all communications addressed to ARPA-H staff, or the ARPA-H webmaster, are maintained as required by law for historical purposes. These communications are protected by the Privacy Act which restricts our use of them while permitting certain disclosures.

(NOTE: Please see the HHS website for further information regarding Medical Privacy.)

Intrusion Detection/Website Security

This site is maintained by the U.S. Government. It is protected by various provisions of Title 18, U.S. Code. Violations of Title 18 are subject to criminal prosecution in federal court.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we employ software programs to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. In the event of authorized law enforcement investigations, and pursuant to any required legal process, information from these sources may be used to help identify and prosecute individuals for illegal activity if they violate these laws.

Systems of Records

Electronically submitted information is maintained and destroyed pursuant to the Federal Records Act, and in some cases may be subject to the Privacy Act. If information that you submit is to be used in a Privacy Act system of records, there will be a Privacy Act Notice provided.

Data Safeguarding and Privacy

All uses of web measurement and customization technologies will comply with existing policies with respect to privacy and data safeguarding standards. Information Systems (IT) systems owned and operated by ARPA-H are assessed using Privacy Impact Assessments posted for public view on the Department of Health and Human Services Website (https://www.hhs.gov/pia/). Groups of records that contain information about an individual and are designed to be retrieved by the name or other personal identifier linked to the individual are covered by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (5 U.S.C. § 552a). For these records, ARPA-H Systems of Record Notices are published in the Federal Register and posted on the NIH Senior Official for Privacy website.

Data Retention and Access Limits: ARPA-H will retain data collected using the following technologies long enough to achieve the specified objective for which they were collected. The data generated from these activities falls under the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedule (GRS) 20-item IC "Electronic Records," and will be handled per the requirements of that schedule (http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/grs/grs20.html).

Third-Party Websites and Applications

Third-Party Websites and Applications (TPWAs) are web-based technologies that are not exclusively operated or controlled by ARPA-H such as non-.gov hosted applications and those embedded on an ARPA-H webpage that could cause PII to become available or accessible to ARPA-H, regardless of whether ARPA-H solicits or collects it.

As part of the Open Government Directive, ARPA-H uses a variety of new technologies and social media options to communicate and interact with citizens. These sites and applications include popular social networking and media sites, open-source software communities and more. The following list includes the TPWAs that we use and their purposes. For any sites or applications that collect PII, this list also includes details on information collected and how ARPA-H protects your private information.

Facebook: On the ARPA-H Facebook page, ARPA-H staff post news and other items of interest to citizens. If you have a Facebook account or "Like" ARPA-H Facebook pages, you can post comments or click on the "like" option for individual entries. If you comment or click on the "like" button, PII will be visible to ARPA-H staff and other Facebook site visitors. The amount of visible PII will depend on your own Facebook privacy settings. You can completely avoid displaying any PII by not creating an account, not posting comments, and not clicking on the "like" options in Facebook. ARPA-H staff do not collect, use, or disclose any information about visitors who comment or "like" the ARPA-H Facebook site. Facebook collects and reports on non-PII about activities on Facebook pages. This information is password protected and only available to ARPA-H managers, members of the ARPA-H Communications and Web Teams, and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. The Facebook privacy policy is available here: http://www.facebook.com/about/privacy/.

LinkedIn: ARPA-H uses the “groups” feature on LinkedIn to engage with current and past employees and members of the public. To join an ARPA-H group on LinkedIn, you must register for a LinkedIn account and provide your first and last name and e- mail address. Upon confirmation of your email address, you must provide LinkedIn with information regarding your employment, country, zip code, job title, etc.. The amount of visible personal information will depend on your LinkedIn user privacy settings. You can completely avoid displaying any PII by not creating a LinkedIn account, not joining ARPA-H LinkedIn groups, or not interacting with ARPA-H LinkedIn groups in any way (i.e., private messaging, posting on group pages, etc.). Although ARPA-H staff managing LinkedIn groups may view the information you provide when you submit a request to join ARPA-H LinkedIn groups, ARPA-H staff do not collect, use, or disclose any of this information. The LinkedIn Privacy Policy is available here: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/privacy-policy. 

X (formerly Twitter): ARPA-H uses X to send short messages (up to 140 characters) or "Tweets" to share information about ARPA-H with visitors and respond to comments and inquiries sent via X to ARPA-H. While visitors may read the ARPA-H X feeds without subscribing to them, visitors who want to subscribe to (or follow) ARPA-H X feeds must create an X account at www.twitter.com. To create an account, you must provide some personal information, such as name, username, password, and email address. Visitors have the option to provide additional personal information including a short biography, location, or a picture. Most information you provide for an X account is available to the public, but you can modify how much of your information is visible by changing your privacy settings at the Twitter.com website. ARPA-H staff members monitor the number of subscribers and respond to comments and queries via X, but the staff never takes possession of the personal information belonging to X followers. ARPA-H does not collect, maintain, disclose, or share any information about people who follow ARPA-H on X. The X Privacy Policy is available here: https://twitter.com/en/privacy.

YouTube: ARPA-H posts videos on YouTube to make them available to all ARPA-H visitors. You do not need to register with either YouTube or Google (YouTube owner) to watch ARPA-H videos. When visitors watch videos, YouTube may record non-PII about its site usage, such as channels used, videos watched, and data transfer details to improve its services. If you log on to the YouTube site before watching ARPA-H videos, YouTube may associate information about your site use with your YouTube account. If you log on to YouTube and comment on an ARPA-H video, any personal information you included when registering for your account will be visible to visitors who click on the comment. If you do not log in before watching ARPA-H videos posted on YouTube, your site use will not be associated with you or a YouTube account. The YouTube privacy policy is available here: www.youtube.com/t/privacy.

ARPA-H Privacy Act Officer

privacy@arpa-h.gov

Survey Disclaimer

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 5 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources. Gathering and maintaining the data needed and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a current valid OMB control number.