Privacy policy

Scope of this policy

This policy covers America.gov, including the chat surface and the pages served under this domain. It explains what we collect, why we collect it, and what we do with it.

Other government sites we link to have their own privacy policies. When you leave America.gov, this policy stops applying.

Information we collect

You can browse America.gov without telling us who you are. We do not ask you to create an account to get an answer.

When you ask a question, we process what you type so we can answer it. We do not store your messages, and we do not write them to our logs or our analytics. The systems that generate your answer process your question under contract terms that prohibit retaining it.

We also receive the standard technical information every web server gets, including the pages you request and the date and time. We do not collect your browser or device type.

We use your network address to keep the service available and to stop abuse. For usage measurement we store a shortened hash of that address rather than the address itself, along with the country and region it maps to. If you hit a rate limit, the address appears in our short-term security logs.

If you choose to start a task with an agency, you may give us details that agency needs. We pass those details to the agency you asked us to work with, and we tell you before we do.

How we use information

We use what you tell us to answer your question, to hand your task to the right agency, and to keep the service secure and available.

We use aggregate information to understand which answers work and which do not, so we can fix the ones that fail people. We do not use your information to build an advertising profile, and we never sell it.

Cookies and analytics

America.gov sets one cookie, which remembers the language you chose. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party trackers, we do not run a page-view analytics script, and we do not currently participate in federal web analytics programs.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site still works if you do, though your language choice will not carry over between visits.

How we share information

We share information with an agency when you ask us to start something with that agency, and with the vendors who run the infrastructure behind this service under contract to the government. Those contracts prohibit retaining your questions or using them for any purpose other than answering you.

We may also share information when we are required to by law, or when it is necessary to investigate a security incident or an attempt to misuse the service.

How long we keep information

We keep information only as long as we need it for the purpose we collected it, and no longer than the applicable federal records schedule allows.

Some records, including certain security logs, are retained because federal records law requires it.

Children's privacy

America.gov is written for adults handling government tasks. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us personal information, contact us and we will remove it.

Your choices and how to reach us

You can use America.gov without giving us personal information, and you can decide at each step whether to hand a task to an agency.

If you have a question about this policy, or want to know what we hold about a request you made, contact us and we will respond. We will post any change to this policy on this page and update the date at the top.