NHC/TPC Privacy Statement

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This policy establishes how the National Hurricane Center/Tropical Prediction Center will use information we gather about you from your visit to our website. The privacy of our customers is of utmost importance to the NHC/TPC.

If you visit the NHC/TPC website...

• To read or download information with a web browser:

  We collect and log information from our webservers for statistical purposes. For example, we count the number of visitors to the different sections of our site. This helps us make the site more useful to visitors. The information collected is limited to the information logged by our webservers. Here is an example of a typical logged visit, with explanations of the information gathered:

  Client IP number	Date/Time of request	Specific server request
  0.0.0.0	- - [12/Nov/2000:01:26:37 +0000]	"GET /graphics/test2.gif HTTP/1.0"
  status code and item size	Referring web address	Client browser information
  200 12925	"http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/"	"Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.01; Windows NT)"

  In this case a client connected to the Internet with IP number 0.0.0.0, using Microsoft Internet Explorer^® on a Windows NT^® system requested the spinning cyclone graphic "test2.gif" that decorates the NHC/TPC homepage. (Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows NT are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation).

  We do not set or use browser "cookies" in any form or fashion at the NHC/TPC website.

  Browser "cookies" are records stored by webservers on a client's computer. Cookies are often used to record information about a user's visit to a website.
  
  

• To send us an E-mail:

  By sending us an electronic mail message, you may be sending us personal information (e.g., name, address, E-mail address). We may store the name and address of the requester in order to respond to the request or to otherwise resolve the subject matter of your E-mail. At most this data is held for six months, then deleted.
  
  

• To register for the automated tropical cyclone advisory email:

  To register for our advisory email, we ask visitors to fill out an on-line registration form. We require only that a valid email address be used to register. This information is stored on the email server. No copies of your email address are made other than backups of the email server software. Your email registration is not made available to any other systems. We calculate statistical information such as total number of subscribers from the subscriber lists, but no individual information is included in these reports. Individual subscribers control their subscriptions to the service, and their email address is automatically deleted from the system when they cancel their subscriptions. Only active subscriber email addresses are kept on the server. No long-term records of deleted subscribers are kept.

We want to be very clear on this: regardless of the information being transmitted to the NHC/TPC, we will protect all such information consistent with applicable law.