For Families Visiting PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO!:

Last modified: September 24, 2010

You have trusted us for many years to make safe and quality content that family members of all ages can enjoy. Online, this trust is even more important to your family, and to PBS KIDS. To make sure that this site stays safe and fun, we make the following promises:

• In almost all activities, the information we collect is non-personal (such as first name only, age, and state). If you enter a contest, send us a question or send an electronic postcard, we will also ask for an e-mail address. Our use of e-mail addresses is further described in the examples below. We only collect enough information from our visitors to make activities on PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! fun and interesting.
• If you submit stories, artwork, comments or anything else to us that is posted on our site, you will be identified on our site only by first name, age, city and state.
• No one will be excluded from our site for not giving us personal information. When we do ask for personal information (like an e-mail address) as part of an activity, we will only use it for that activity and keep it only until that particular activity is complete. For example:
• If you send us an e-mail with a question or comment, or enter one of our contests, we will respond using the e-mail address you supply, but we will not keep the address or use it again for any other purpose.
• If you ask PBS KIDS to send an electronic postcard or e-mail message, we will ask for your first name and e-mail address as well as the e-mail address of the person who will receive the postcard. We will only use this information to send the postcard or message to the person you specify and we will delete the information when the postcard or message has been sent.
• We will never share any personal information that you provide with any third parties unless those third parties: (1) are engaged by us to maintain the technical functioning of our website or web service, or to fulfill a request made by a user; (2) are restricted in their access and use of personal information only to the extent necessary to maintain the technical functioning of the website or web service, or to fulfill a request made by a user; and (3) have promised to keep the personal information that they access confidential.
• If we know a visitor is under the age of thirteen, we will collect a parent's permission offline (by postal mail, fax or phone) before we collect, use, store or disclose any personal information supplied by that visitor. We will also allow parents to review any personal information we may collect from children under 13 and to request that we stop using and delete such information at any time. If our policies change with regard to personal information that we previously received parental consent to collect, we will notify the parents of the changed policies.
• When you create a username and password on PBS KIDS GO!, we do not collect any information that would allow us or anyone else to identify you. When prompted to create a username, we recommend you use non-personally identifiable information. Your login information is only used in games and activities where users might want to save points and creations.

As you visit pbskids.org and pbskidsgo.org, it is possible that several cookies* will be set on your computer. PBS KIDS uses the information from cookies to deliver relevant local resources, remember browser preferences, and improve our visitors' experiences on the site. No personal information is ever stored in a PBS KIDS cookie, even if you have entered your name or e-mail address on other parts of PBS KIDS.

PBS KIDS does not sell information collected by cookies or use the information for commerce-related purposes. In addition, PBS KIDS will not filter content based on your preferences without permission.

*What's a cookie? A cookie is information a website puts on your computer's hard drive so that the site can remember your preferences or which pages you visited on that site. PBS KIDS cookies are used to remember setting that you pick for the computer you use to visit our site, but not to identify any personal information about the person using the computer.

PBS KIDS only uses cookies at the following times:

• If you localize pbskids.org to the PBS station nearest you, a cookie will tell us your station's call letters. PBS KIDS only keeps track of how many computers choose each station. You can choose to have your computer remember a different station, or no station at all, at any time. Please note that if you come to pbskids.org from a local station site, and you were not previously localized to a station, you may be automatically localized to that station.
• As you explore pbskids.org and pbskidsgo.org, a cookie will tell us which pages you visit and the amount of time between each page visit. This cookie does not remember any information about you or your computer; it just helps us at PBS KIDS identify new and repeat visitors, and tells us how long visitors spend on our sites and which pages receive the most traffic.

We also promise to help families and communities find the information they need to use the Internet safely and responsibly.

• When a PBS KIDS site is partially funded by outside sponsors, we will mark any underwriter logos with a "sponsored by" tag. We choose our underwriters carefully, to make sure that the company's products and services fit PBS standards. PBS KIDS sites will not contain advertisements promoting e-commerce or direct links to e-commerce.
• All underwriter logo designs will be targeted to an adult audience, not children. They will be designed so as to be clearly differentiated from games, videos and other activities on the PBS KIDS website.
• All links to third party sites are insulated with a PBS KIDS bridge page. These pages clearly notify the visitor that he or she is leaving pbskids.org, and offers an opportunity to return to PBS KIDS. In the case of a sponsor's link, the bridge page will provide more information about the sponsor's relationship to PBS. Since we cannot be assured that links to outside sites follow our safety or privacy guidelines, we encourage families to discuss these choices together. We are not responsible for the content or safety and privacy practices at any sites linked from our pages.
• With areas of our site like "Webonauts Internet Academy,” we will continue to empower our visitors by helping them to make informed choices.

Your family's use of this site is conditioned on your having accepted these terms. You should check back to this policy frequently, since it is subject to change from time to time, and your continued use of the site is conditioned upon your acceptance of any modifications hereto.

We want to make this site a place where families can surf together, and where parents and caregivers are happy to have their children interact, learn and play. We are committed to protecting the safety and wellbeing of children, and we continually work to ensure that our data collection practices conform to all applicable laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). If you have any comments or questions, we're happy to hear them. This is, after all, your site.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy, send us an e-mail at kids@pbs.org.

You may also contact us at 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202 (703 739-5127).

Please read the Terms of Use for Terms and Conditions for using this site. Read the PBS Online Privacy Policy for the sites hosted on pbs.org.