| Privacy, Security, and Other Notices | 
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| Privacy, Security, and Other Notices |
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Privacy Notice
Cookies
Security Notice
General Disclaimer
Disclaimer of Endorsement
Disclaimer of Liability
Links to this Site or Its Contents
Links to Other Sites
Copyright Notice
Use of the Central Intelligence Agency Seal
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Kids' Page Notice for Parents
Accessing Declassified Information
Site Management
Verification or Hard Copy of Content
For More Information
The Director of Central Intelligence heads both the U.S. Intelligence Community and the Central Intelligence Agency. As a result of these dual roles, this Web site includes information about both the Intelligence Community and the Central Intelligence Agency (see the DCI's welcome page). For the purpose of the notices which follow, we will refer to this entire Web site as the Central Intelligence Agency Web site since 'Central Intelligence Agency' is a more widely known name than is 'Director of Central Intelligence.' The notices which follow apply equally to all areas of this Web site.
When you visit the Director of Central Intelligence/Central Intelligence Agency Web site [hereafter, the Central Intelligence Agency Web site] to browse information it contains, you do so anonymously. If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the Web site-reading pages, viewing photographs, or downloading information for example-we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally.
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).
The Central Intelligence Agency Web site automatically logs visitor information from which summary statistics are created. We use the summary statistics to help us make our site more useful to visitors, such as assessing what information is of most and least interest to visitors, and for other purposes such as determining the site's technical design specifications and identifying system performance or problem areas.
The following are representative of the types of information automatically collected and stored about your visit:
The Central Intelligence Agency Web 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, that 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).
This system and related software and equipment are intended solely for the communication, transmission, processing, and storage of U.S. Government information. For site security purposes and to ensure that this Web site remains available to all users, the Central Intelligence Agency monitors network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or to otherwise cause damage to the site. Anyone using this Web site expressly consents to such monitoring.
Unauthorized attempts to modify any information stored on this system, to defeat or circumvent security features, or to utilize this system for other than its intended purposes are prohibited and may result in criminal prosecution.
If monitoring reveals evidence of possible criminal activity, such evidence may be provided to law enforcement personnel.
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 the Central Intelligence Agency 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 Central Intelligence Agency 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. An actual example of the latter is a commercial Web site that copied the CIA World Factbook to its Web site, but excluded 17 pages of Notes and Definitions that provide a framework for understanding the content of the Factbook. While the Central Intelligence Agency makes 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.
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. Neither the U.S. Government nor the Central Intelligence Agency controls or guarantees the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to Web sites other than the Agency-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 the Central Intelligence Agency.
The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S. Government or the Central Intelligence Agency, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
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. The Central Intelligence Agency makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the contents of this Web site and expressly disclaims liability for errors and omissions in the contents of this Web site.
With respect to the content of Central Intelligence Agency Web site, neither the United States Government, nor the Central Intelligence Agency, nor their employees and contractors make any warranty, expressed or implied or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of noninfringement of third party rights, title, and the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to content available from Central Intelligence Agency Web site or other Internet resources linked from it. Additionally, neither the U.S. Government nor the Central Intelligence Agency assumes 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.
You may freely link to the Central Intelligence Agency Web site or any of its content. We ask only that you identify that the link is to a Central Intelligence Agency Internet resource.
Our Web site has links to other United States Government agencies. In a few cases, we link to private organizations, with their permission. Once you link to another site, you are subject to the disclaimers and security and privacy policies of the new site.
Unless a copyright is indicated, information on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published or otherwise used without the Central Intelligence Agency's permission. We request only that the Central Intelligence Agency be cited as the source of the information and that any photo credits or bylines be similarly credited to the photographer or author or Central Intelligence Agency, 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 the Central Intelligence Agency Web site.
Federal law prohibits use of the words ''Central Intelligence Agency'', the initials ''CIA'', the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency, or any colorable imitation of such words, initials, or seal in connection with any merchandise, impersonation, solicitation, or commercial activity in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the impression that such use is approved, endorsed, or authorized by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Unauthorized attempts to upload information and/or change information on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site is strictly prohibited and is subject to prosecution under Title 18 U.S.C., Sections1001 and 1030). [see Security Notice]
We established a kid's homepage in compliance with the President's April 18, 1997, Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, Subject: Expanding Access to Internet-based Educational Resources for Children, Teachers, and Parents.
We encourage parents and teachers to be involved in children's Internet explorations. The Central Intelligence Agency homepage for kids provides information about the Nation's intelligence efforts as well as a geography quiz and other fun things for kids to do. We do not ask for nor collect any information regarding children's visits to the kid's homepage other than as stated in the Privacy Notice. The information collected as stated in the Privacy Notice does not differentiate between adults and children.
If you are interested in documents recently declassified by the Central Intelligence Agency, you can access much of this information through the CIA Electronic Document Release Center (Freedom of Information Act) on this Web site.
The Electronic Document Release Center offers an Internet-based database containing recently declassified documents on a wide variety of issues. Many of the referenced documents are available for viewing as full text images of the original document. In addition to the Electronic Document Release Center, the Agency's homepage contains a Related Links section which includes links to the National Archives Records Administration and other sites where declassified documents and satellite photography may be obtained.
The Director of Central Intelligence/Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Public Affairs (OPA) manages the overall information content, design, and, organization of the Web site. OPA also coordinates release of Central Intelligence Agency information on the Internet.
If you would like verification or a hard copy of information released on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site, contact the Office of Public Affairs staff:
Office of Public Affairs
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
Phone: 703-482-0623
Fax: 703-482-1739
If you have any questions or comments about the information presented here, please contact the Central Intelligence Agency Web information manager in the Office of Public Affairs at the address or phone or fax numbers listed above.