Privacy Policy

Scope

This statement applies to Ship Vista Express customers and usps.com visitors, unless a separate privacy notice is prominently displayed.

Uses

For over two centuries, the Postal Service™ has valued your privacy, and built a brand that customers trust. Thank you for reviewing our privacy policy.

Our privacy policy tells you about our information practices when you provide personal information to us, whether collected online or offline, or when you visit us online to browse, obtain information, or conduct a transaction. Personal information may include your name, email, mailing and/or business address, phone numbers, or other information that identifies you personally. We do not require you to register or provide personal information to visit our website.

Key aspects of our privacy policy include:

  • We do not sell or rent your personal information to outside parties.
  • We do not market other products or services to you without your consent.
  • We do not use web analysis tools (e.g., cookies) to identify you personally without your express consent.

The policy includes detailed explanations of how we provide:

Notice our Privacy Act Rights

The following describes the ways we collect information from you, and the protections that apply to your information.

The Postal Service collects personal information from you and from your transactions with us. We use information we collect to provide you certain products and services, and if needed to respond to your inquiries or requests for information. We occasionally collect data about you from financial entities to perform verification services and from commercial sources. We do this, for example, to prepopulate data fields in call centers to facilitate transactions, or to market products to consumers who have agreed to receive such messages.

Privacy Act Rights

The Postal Service follows the privacy requirements of the Privacy Act, which protects your personal information that we maintain in what is called a system of records. A system of records is a file, database, or program from which personal information is retrieved by name or other personal identifier. In other words, the Privacy Act applies when we use your personal information to know who you are and to interact with you – such as when you provide information to request a product or service, register on usps.com, or submit an inquiry or complaint. The Privacy Act provides comprehensive protections for your personal information. This includes how information is collected, used, disclosed, stored, and discarded.

When we collect and maintain personal information from you offline, a Privacy Act notice will be provided. The following is your Privacy Act notice for personal information collected online:

Privacy Act notice: Your information will be used to provide you requested products, services, or information. Collection is authorized by 39 USC 401, 403, & 404. Providing the information is voluntary, but if not provided, we may not process your transaction. We do not disclose your information to third parties without your consent, except to facilitate the transaction, to act on your behalf or request, or as legally required. This includes the following limited circumstances: to a congressional office on your behalf; to financial entities regarding financial transaction issues; to a Ship Vista Express auditor; to entities, including law enforcement, as required by law or in legal proceedings; to domestic and international customs relating to outgoing international mail pursuant to federal law and agreements; and to contractors and other entities aiding us to fulfill the service (service providers).

 

Information Collected from Emails and Online Forms

Many of our programs and websites allow you to send us an email. We will use the information you provide to respond to your inquiry, provide information, or to fill your order for postal products and services in which you have expressed an interest.

Remember that email may not necessarily be secure against interception. If your email communication is very sensitive, or includes information such as your bank account, charge card, or social security number, you should send it by mail unless the Web site indicates the particular site is secured.

The Postal Service believes in permission-based marketing. We do not sell, rent, or otherwise provide your personal information to outside marketers. You will only receive marketing about products and services of the Postal Service or its partners, other than products and services you already receive or are registered for, under the following conditions.

  • If you are a consumer, we use an opt-in standard. If you have provided personal information to register for or purchase a product or service, we will not use that information to contact you in the future about another product or service unless you have provided express consent.
  • If you are a business, we use an opt-out standard. We assume you are interested in other products and services that could aid you in your business, and so we will provide information to you unless you tell us you do not want to receive it.

Consumers may opt-in, and businesses may opt-out, when they register on usps.com and create a customer profile. These preferences in the profile can be changed at any time. Please contact the privacy office at the addresses below with any questions about your preferences.

In those instances where we secure your personal information in transit to us and upon receipt, the Postal Service uses the industry standard encryption software, Secured Socket Layer (SSL). The URL in your browser will change to “HTTPS” instead of “HTTP” when this security feature is invoked. Your browser may also display a lock symbol on its bottom task bar line to indicate this secure transmission is in place.

For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, the Postal Service employs software programs to monitor network traffic in order to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits other than those uses identified in this policy. Unauthorized modification or misuse of information stored in this system will be investigated and may result in criminal prosecution.

U.S. Postal Service® information systems may be protected by EINSTEIN cybersecurity capabilities, under the operational control of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). Electronic communications with the Postal Service may be scanned by government-owned or contractor equipment to look for network traffic indicating known or suspected malicious cyber activity, including malicious content or communications. Electronic communications within the Postal Service will be collected or retained by US-CERT only if they are associated with known or suspected cyber threats. US-CERT will use the information collected through EINSTEIN to analyze the known or suspected cyber threat and help the Postal Service and other agencies respond and better protect their computers and networks.

For additional information about EINSTEIN capabilities, please see the EINSTEIN program-related Privacy Impact Assessments available on the DHS cybersecurity privacy website http://www.dhs.gov/files/publications/editorial_0514.shtm#4, along with other information about the federal government’s cybersecurity activities.

Service Providers

The Postal Service enters into relationships with service providers in order to provide the highest quality product or service. Service providers may include an entity that provides assistance for the program, such as a call center; a provider of advertising services; or a partner for the program. The USPS holds service providers to the same rigorous standards of privacy that apply to the USPS, including being made subject to the Privacy Act and USPS privacy policies. Service providers that have access to personal information are also subject to security review.

If you have provided personal information to us, you may request to review the information that we have maintained. Please contact the program office that provided you the product or service, the office that handled your inquiry, or the privacy office at the addresses below. We will correct or delete any inaccurate information upon your request.