Privacy Policy

What is Youth Engaged for Change?

Youth Engaged 4 Change (YE4C) was created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP), which is composed of representatives from 22 federal agencies that support programs and services for youth. YE4C was created for 16-24 year olds (see policy regarding children under 13 years of age outlined below). The site promotes youth and young adult engagement and facilitates access to resources and opportunities for youth and young adults to improve their lives and the world around them locally and nationally.

How can I contact YE4C?

You may contact YE4C, including with questions or comments about this privacy policy at:

You can call us at 1-877-231-7843.
You can e-mail questions or comment to YE4C@air.org

Thank you for visiting our website and for reviewing our Privacy Policy. Our policy is clear:

We do not collect personally identifiable information (PII) about you unless you choose to provide that information to us.
Non-PII information related to your visit to our website may be automatically collected and temporarily stored.

Personal information

You do not have to sign up to use our site — it’s open to everyone. You do not have to give YE4C any personal information, unless you would like to provide it.

The only way YE4C will be able to see your personal information is if you directly provide it by sending a message to our e-mail address or by filling out a form on our site. We do not use any hidden tools to monitor what websites you visit, so you do not have to worry about receiving spam messages or seeing ads by visiting our site.

Nonpersonal information

YE4C does collect some nonpersonal information from your computer when you visit our website. This is the same information that your computer provides to all the websites you visit:

The Internet provider used to access the website
The date and time you visited the website
The pages you accessed on the website and what you searched for
The address of the website that you were visiting when you clicked to link to YE4C
Your location at the time of your visit, down to the city-level.

We use this information to improve our website and provide a better user experience for our visitors. We use a tool, Google Analytics, to collect and aggregate this information. This information is available only to web managers and other designated staff who require this information to perform their duties. It is retained only for as long as needed for proper analysis. There is no PII included in this data.

Sharing your information

Unless doing so is required by law, YE4C will only share identifying information about you when: we have your consent to do so; it is necessary to maintain the integrity of our products; promotes safety and security; or protects the well-being of our users. On some of our web pages and social media sites, we offer interactive forms that let you voluntarily submit personal information (such as your e-mail address, name, or organization). This occurs when you are registering for conferences, webinars, or contests, or submitting comments to various web discussion forums. In those cases, all submitted information is used only for the expressed purposes for which it is intended and is not made available to or sold to any third party.

If you choose to provide YE4C with personal information — for example by completing a "Contact Us" inquiry via email, leaving a comment, or completing a survey — we may use that information to respond to your message and/or help us get you the information or services you asked for. Submitting personal information (name, address, telephone number, email address, etc.) is voluntary and is not required to access information on our website.

Third-party websites and applications

YE4C’s privacy policy extends to YE4C’s website only. However, YE4C uses new technologies and social media options to communicate and interact with the public. We maintain accounts on third-party websites, such as social media sites, as tools to better interact with the public. Your activity on those third-party websites is governed by the security and policies of those sites. Users of third-party websites often share information with the general public, user community, and/or the third-party operating the website. These actors may use this information in a variety of ways. You should review the privacy policies of all websites before using them and ensure that you understand how your information may be used. You should also adjust privacy settings on your account on any third-party website to match your preferences. The following list includes the websites and applications we use and their purposes. For any sites or applications that collect PII, this list also includes details on what information is collected and how the YE4C protects your private information. Common third-party websites in use include:

Information Collected and Used from Third-Party Websites

If you have an account with a third-party website, and choose to follow, like, friend, or comment, certain PII associated with your account may be made available based on the privacy policies of the third-party website and your privacy settings within that third-party website. YE4C sometimes collects and uses PII made available through third-party websites. We do not share PII made available through third-party websites.

Web measurement and customization

We use Web measurement and customization technologies, such as cookies, to help our website function better for visitors and to better understand how the public is using our website.

Cookies

YE4C uses “cookies” to test and optimize website design and content. A cookie is a small text file automatically placed on your computer. We use two types of cookies on our websites:

We use session cookies to gather data for technical purposes, such as enabling better navigation through our website and generating aggregated statistics about how the website is used. Session cookies are temporary text files that expire when you leave our website. When cookies expire, they are automatically deleted from your computer. We do not use session cookies to collect PII, and we do not share data collected from session cookies. Our use of session cookies is defined as Tier 1 usage in accordance with the OMB Memorandum (M)-10-22 Guidance for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies.

We use multisession cookies, aka persistent cookies, to customize our website for frequent visitors and to test variations of website design and content. Multisession cookies are stored over more than a single session on your computer. We do not use multisession cookies to collect PII, and we do not share data collected from multisession cookies. Our use of multisession cookies is defined as Tier 2 usage in accordance with the OMB Memorandum (M)-10-22 Guidance for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies.

You can take actions to block cookies. Blocking these cookies from your computer will not affect your access to the content and tools on our website. Instructions to opt out are available on USA.gov, http://www.usa.gov/optout_instructions.shtml.

Youth Engaged 4 Change (YE4C) Commenting policy

YE4C encourages you to be engaged, improve your life, and improve your communities. To that end, YE4C provides content on social media channels to encourage the use of youth education resources, publications, and tools.

YE4C uses social media sites to provide content in formats that may be useful or interesting. However, YE4C cannot attest to the accuracy of other information provided by these or any other linked sites. Using these third-party sites does not constitute an endorsement by the YE4C or any of its partners of the sponsors of the sites or the information or products presented on the sites. Also, please be aware that the privacy protection provided at YE4C may not be available on these third-party sites. When you post a comment, you are choosing to provide information to us. YE4C does not disclose, give, sell, or transfer any personal information about our visitors with any other organization or government agency except as required by Federal law, or to combat harmful conduct, detect and prevent spam and other bad experiences, maintain the integrity of our products, and promote safety and security. For example, we use data we have to investigate suspicious activity or violations of our terms or policies, or to detect when someone needs help, or to prevent death or imminent bodily harm.

While we encourage people to share thoughts and opinions on the YE4C Facebook page as well as the YE4C Instagram page, we expect that they will do so in a respectful manner. YE4C does not agree with or endorse comments that individuals post on our pages. Our goal is to share ideas and information with as many individuals as possible and our policy is to accept the majority of comments made on our page.

However, comments will be deleted if they contain any of these:

- Hate speech
- Profanity, obscenity, or vulgarity
- Nudity in profile pictures
- Defamation to a person or people
- Racially discriminatory statements
- Name calling, bullying, and/or personal attacks
- Comments aimed at advertising or selling a product(s)
- Comments that infringe on copyrights
- Job openings
- Spam comments, such as the same comment posted repeatedly on a profile
- Other comments that the YE4C team deems inappropriate

All links posted as comments on YE4C posts will be reviewed and may be deleted. Repeated violations of the YE4C comment policy may cause the author to be blocked from YE4C.

Interaction with Children Under 13 Years of Age Online

YE4C will take all reasonable steps necessary to protect the privacy and safety of any child from whom information is collected, as required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

This site if not for use by children under the age of 13. Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to provide information on this site without written consent from the child’s parent or guardian. This site will not collect information from children under age of 13 unless consent is provided by the child’s parent to collect such information and it will not use or disclose such information without parental consent. Information and instructions will be provided by the specific webpage and/or app that collects information about a child. The webpage and/or app will specify exactly what the information will be used for, who will see it, and how long it will be kept.

Intrusion Detection

This site is maintained by the U.S. Government. It is protected by various provisions of Title 18, U.S. Code. Violations of Title 18 are subject to criminal prosecution in federal court.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, we employ software programs to monitor traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information or otherwise cause damage. In the event of authorized law enforcement investigations and as part of any required legal process, information from these sources may be used to help identify an individual.

The Suicide Prevention Lifeline

The Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals. You can call them at 1.800.273.8255.

For More Information

For more information on the Privacy Act at HHS, visit: http://www.hhs.gov/foia/privacy/index.html