EPOXI

Two intriguing investigations -- One flight-proven spacecraft

Privacy Statement

Welcome to the EPOXI Mission website. Our goal is to inform, inspire, and involve children in the excitement of science, technology, and space exploration. While we develop and encourage interactivity in learning, we strive to ensure the online safety and privacy of our users. EPOXI is committed to complying fully with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). Notice of our information practices are explained below as required by the Federal Trade Commission's Children's Online Privacy Protection Regulations, located at 16 CFR § 312.

(i) Contact Information (16 CFR § 312.4) "Operators"

Dr. Lucy McFadden is the Education/Public Outreach (EPO) lead for EPOXI. Elizabeth Warner serves as the webmaster.

Dr. Lucy McFadden: mcfadden[at]astro.umd.edu
Elizabeth Warner: warnerem[at]astro.umd.edu

Dept. of Astronomy
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 405-6555

(ii) Information Collected (16 CFR § 312.4)

A. General Collection Information

As with all internet web sites, EPOXI may collect some information indirectly from all users visiting our website. What is collected and how it is used is explained below.

System Logging. Our web server and Email systems keep log files about network transactions. We do analyze our web log files to calculate statistics on which pages are visited and how long visitors stay on our site. We do not track individuals with this information. We are required to retain this information for the security of our website and online service. Email addresses of messages sent from our system are logged as well. These logs are not viewed unless necessary for security reasons and are deleted after 30 days (16 CFR § 312.5(c)(5)(i)).

Internet Addresses. EPOXI gathers Internet Protocol Address (IP Addresses) and pages viewed as part of the logging system within our web server. When calculating statistics on visits and pages viewed IP addresses are used in broad calculations. IP addresses are never used to identify someone personally unless a security breach requires such an investigation (16 CFR § 312.5(c)(5)(i)).

Use of Cookies. EPOXI may use session cookies for visitors to our site. A session cookie is a temporary file stored in a web browser that is deleted when it either expires or the browser is closed. No privacy or personal information is stored in a cookie from this web site. We may store a temporary number which helps us understand traffic patterns or helps us control access to restricted pages. Some features of the mission website may not function properly without session cookies being enabled. The Office of Management and Budget currently does not permit government web sites to store any permanent cookies on your system without explicit permission to do so.

B. "Please Introduce Yourself" Information Collected

Occasionally EPOXI features an online questionnaire to help us evaluate how well we are serving our audience. The questionnaire asks for an Email address, which is stored in a subscription list. We use this list to send Email messages about what is new and fun on EPOXI. No other personal information is collected.

Occupation is collected to help analyze our audience.
Age is collected to help determine how well we are reaching our target audience.
City, state, and country information is collected to help determine how well we are reaching our target audience.
Frequency of access information is collected to help analyze how effectively we are reaching our target audience.
Access venue (e.g., school, home, library) is collected to help us analyze our audience and plan the design of future EPOXI website activities.
Favorite activities is collected to help plan future EPOXI Mission activities.
The Email address is collected for us to send messages about new activities or fun facts on EPOXI.
We do not disclose this information to third parties.

(iii) How information collected is used (16 CFR § 312.4)

For brevity, the use of the collected information is described in the above section on explaining what is collected.

(iv) Third Party Disclosure (16 CFR § 312.4)

EPOXI does not disclose information to third parties.

(v) Participation (16 CFR § 312.4)

EPOXI does not prohibit the participation in any activity based on requiring more personal information than is necessary.

(vi) Review or Deletion of Privacy Data (16 CFR § 312.4)

EPOXI collects no data associated with any individual child, aside from Email address. Upon request, the child's Email address is deleted from our Email subscription list.

Links to External Sites

EPOXI tries to provide a safe, fun, and private environment for kids to learn about space science and technology. We primarily link to our own partners (NASA, JPL, UMD, GSFC, SSE, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Discovery Program) and to sites which have given us web awards for our educational merit. We also link to a few other 3rd party sites with relevant educational and outreach content. We are not responsible for the content or collection practices of these sites and recommend you read their privacy policies before providing them information.

Additional Information

Also read NASA's Privacy Statement for Web Sites

+ Home