Privacy Policy

Legal Information

This is the web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The Bank respects your privacy.

Personal Information

You may access and browse our site without disclosing your personal data. The personal information you choose to provide us is voluntary. We do not require you to provide any information about yourself that you do not wish to share.

You may choose to provide us with personal information if, for example, you subscribe to our publications or mail lists, send us questions through e-mail, answer our user surveys, register for an event or user account, apply for a job or participate in our online activities.

If you participate in a user survey, your answers and personal information will only be analyzed in aggregate. The information will be used to help us tailor our web site, publications, and services to our users' needs and to help us understand our audience.

If you provide us with your postal or e-mail address or telephone number, this information will only be used for the purpose for which you provided it, such as to:

• Provide you with the publications or information requested;
• Clarify your order or request;
  
• Register you for a user account, conference or other event;
  
• Respond to you regarding your job application;
  
• Provide you with related information; or
  
• Send you a token of appreciation through postal mail if you participate in selected online activities.

We may also file your comments to improve the site, or review and discard the information.
When you fill out our online forms, they are returned to us via electronic mail. Your responses are not encrypted. We cannot guarantee the security of information sent via electronic mail.

Cookies

A cookie is a text file that a web site can send to your browser and which may then be placed on your computer. We may use cookies on this site in the following ways:

1. To collect statistical information about our users in aggregate. We perform analyses on our web server's log files to identify, among other things:
   • Our site's most popular pages;
   • The browsers and operating systems most often used by our visitors;
   • The sites and search engines that have referred visitors to our site; and
   • The domains from which our users visit us.
2. This analysis does not involve personally identifiable information. It is used only for the purpose of helping us understand and better meet our audience's needs.
3. If you register for a Research user account, a transient, memory-resident "cookie" will be invoked when you login to your user account and will disappear when your browser is closed. You are not required to register for a user account to use this site.
4. Sometimes a third-party contractor will use cookies on one of the sites they create and manage for us—for example, our Job Opportunities site.
5. You can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie, giving you the opportunity to decide whether to accept it or not. You can also set your browser to not accept cookies at all. If you do so, however, some areas of some sites (including ours) may not operate properly.

Information Collected Automatically

We collect statistical information about our users in aggregate. We perform analyses on our web server's log files to identify, among other things:

• Our site's most popular pages;
• The browsers and operating systems most often used by our visitors;
• The sites and search engines that have referred visitors to our site; and
• The domains from which our users visit us.

This analysis does not involve personally identifiable information. It is used only for the purpose of helping us understand and better meet our audience's needs.

Disclosure of Information

Any information collected on this web site, whether individual or aggregate, is for Federal Reserve use only. We do not rent, sell or share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies except under any of the following circumstances:

• When we have your permission;
• The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis monitors this site for unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, to defeat or circumvent security measures, or to utilize this site for other than its intended purposes. By using this site you expressly consent to such monitoring and you are advised that if such monitoring reveals possible evidence of criminal activity, we will provide the evidence of such monitoring to law enforcement officials;
• We retain the services of outside contractors to provide services, including mailing list administration and our Job Opportunities pages. We require that these contractors keep information obtained through our web site secure and confidential. We also require that these contractors use personal information obtained through our web site only on behalf of the Federal Reserve.
• We may be required to disclose your personal information to government officials or otherwise as required by subpoenas, court orders, legal process or other legal obligations and to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against legal claims. We will share information in order to investigate, prevent or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud or as otherwise required by law.

Children

Our site is not directed toward children under 13. Nonetheless, we are committed to comply with applicable laws and requirements, such as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. Minor children should always obtain parental consent before releasing personal information to any web site.

Information Security and Quality

We have implemented security measures consistent with our internal information security practices to help us keep your information secure. These measures include technical and procedural steps to protect your data from misuse, access or disclosure, loss, alteration or destruction.

If you have voluntarily submitted personal information to us and wish to review, update, correct or delete it, please e-mail your request to webmaster@stlouisfed.org.

If you have voluntarily submitted personal information to us in connection with setting up a Research user account and wish to review, update, correct or delete it, please e-mail your request to webmaster@research.stlouisfed.org.

Links

Our site contains links to other web sites. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such web sites.

Other Considerations

We may from time to time provide a discussion group or forum. Please remember that information you submit in connection with such a feature will be publicly viewable and not confidential. There is a risk in such communication venues that information will be collected and used by others.

Policy Changes

We reserve the right to change this policy at any time without notice. If any change to our policy affects the way we use your personal information, we will provide an avenue for you to opt out of such use.

Contact Information

Questions or comments about the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's privacy policy may be directed to our web site administrators at webmaster@stlouisfed.org or webmaster@research.stlouisfed.org, or by writing to Public Affairs, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, PO Box 442, St. Louis, MO 63166-0442.