Privacy Policy
Overview of Privacy
Thank you for visiting the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) websites and reviewing our privacy policy. TVA encourages children and their parents, teachers, or other caregivers to spend time together online and participate in the activities on our site. The privacy of visitors to our site is important to us. This statement informs you of how we use personal information that may be collected, used, and stored when you visit www.tvakids.com. Our Privacy Policy is subject to change and updates, so you are encouraged to review the policy from time to time.
Children Online Information
TVA recognizes the particular importance of protecting privacy where children are involved. We are committed to protecting children's privacy at www.tvakids.com. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information on our websites from children under the age of 13. If we determine that a child under 13 has provided personal information in violation of this policy, we will delete that information as soon as practical. If you become aware that such information has been provided by a child under 13, please use the Contact Information below to submit a request to delete the information. If this practice should change, we will provide additional information collection safeguards including, but not limited to, requests for verifiable parental consent before collecting the information, a choice for parents or caregivers regarding whether the information can be disclosed to third parties, details on how to access the child’s information, and the opportunity to delete and opt-out of future collection or use. For more information, see the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.
Personal Information That You Voluntarily Provide
You do not have to provide any personal information to us in order to surf, view content, play games, and watch videos at www.tvakids.com. If a parent, teacher, or caregiver chooses to provide us with personal information, such as by sending a message to an email address on this or other TVA websites, or by filling out a form and submitting it through a TVA website, we will use that information to respond to your message or to fulfill the stated purpose of the communication.
How the Information is Used
We may store non-personally identifiable information we collect indefinitely to help us better understand and meet the needs of our visitors. By sending us an electronic mail message, you may be sending us personally identifying information, such as name and address. In these cases, we may retain the information as long as necessary to respond to your request or otherwise resolve the subject matter of your email. Please be aware that email is not necessarily secure from third-party interception or misdirection. For your own protection, you may wish to communicate sensitive information using a method other than email.
Automatic Collection of Information
When you visit www.tvakids.com, we automatically collect some general, anonymous information about your visit to help us improve navigation on our site or investigate disruption of service attacks. This information includes the date and time of your visit; an Internet Protocol (IP) address; the browser software and operating system used for your visit; and the content of any sent or received cookie(s). This information is technical in nature, is not used to identify who you are, and is collected in the aggregate for statistical purposes.
Service Providers
We may share the information we collect from and about you with companies that provide support services to us (such as a printer, email, analytics providers, web hosting providers, payment processors, web applications or data enhancement providers) or that help us market our products and services. These companies may need this information in order to perform their functions. These companies are not authorized to use the information we share with them for any other purpose. If you believe your information has been inappropriately obtained, shared, or used by a third party, please review that organization’s privacy policy and contact them directly.
Cookie Use and Traffic Data
Website measurement and customization technologies (commonly called “cookies") are small bits of text that are downloaded to your internet browser when you visit a website. The Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-10-22, Guidance for Online The use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies defines conditions under which Federal agencies may use session and persistent cookies. TVA Web sites may use cookies; however, cookies set by or on behalf of TVA do not collect personal information about you, but only about your browser "session." This non-personal information is not disclosed to third parties and may be retained by TVA for Web site improvement and customization purposes, in compliance with TVA's policies for privacy and data safeguarding.
You can set your computer to reject (i.e. "opt-out" of) cookies, and you will still be able to access all of the informational resources provided on our sites. However, some of the customized and dynamic features may not function properly or as efficiently. Learn how to opt-out of cookies.
Individuals’ Access to their Data
The Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, protects the personal information the federal government keeps on individuals in a system of records (SOR). Please note that the Privacy Act does not cover all information collected online. Learn more about the Privacy Act, including a listing of TVA Systems of Records Notices (SORNs).
Social Networking
In order to encourage greater public participation, collaboration, and transparency, TVA currently maintains official Corporation accounts on commercial social networks sites, including YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter. TVA does not collect, maintain, or disseminate information posted by visitors to these sites. Additionally, the Corporation does not endorse or control the comments or opinions provided by visitors to these sites. Please note that the TVA Privacy Policy does not extend to, or have authority over, the privacy policy of any commercial social networking sites you may visit. Therefore, if you choose to interact with the TVA on a commercial third-party site, please review carefully the privacy policy of the third party. Click on the following to view the privacy policies of YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter.
Links to Other Sites
Our website has links to websites of other federal agencies and to private organizations. You will be notified when you access one of these links, warning you that you are leaving the official TVA website. Once you access another site through a link that we provide, you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site. For more information, please visit TVA’s External Link Policy.
Security
This government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause disruption or damage. Such attempts are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.
Contact Info
If you have privacy-related questions or complaints, please contact:
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 W. Summit Hill Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37902-1499
privacy@tva.com