You can participate the Internet Survey of Queer and Questioning Youth with the assurance that your privacy is protected. As a youth, there may be special legal requirements, depending upon where you live, that ensure that no data is collected about you that is then used for commercial purposes. Beyond that, however, we are aware that many of you are not yet out of the closet, and so we take special steps to ensure that all of your answers remain anonymous and confidential. What we record We record the following information automatically (behind the scenes) when you take this survey: The time you started, and the time you finished. This information is timestamped on the survey at our server. We use this data to help calibrate this and future surveys, to ensure it takes the amount of time, on average, that we say it will, and to keep this time, as best as possible, under 40 minutes. The referring page. We track the page from which you linked as a means of determining which of our outreach activities are most effective. The type of browser you are using. This information is also automatically provided by your browser, and we use this to ensure that we are testing the survey for compatibility on the right platforms (for example, WebTV performs quite a bit differently from Internet Explorer). An "Entry ID" code. Our server automatically assigns a random, unique ID code to your survey as it is being entered, as a means of combining responses across multiple pages that may be entered over the course of thirty minutes or more. This ID code in no way communicates any personal information about you, and is erased when you have completed the survey. We do not record Your IP address. This is also automatically provided by your browser, and it is not recorded as part of the survey (we ignore this data). It may be captured automatically by the web server as it aggregates web statistics, but it is not in any way correlated to your responses. We have specifically turned off logging of the fields which contain survey responses, so there is no way to connect your IP address with your responses. Your email address. We do not ask for it nor obtain it in any automatic fashion. Any other personal data other than what you specifically enter as your responses to the survey. What we do with the information in the survey The information we collect is stored in a database which is then analyzed by our staff to produce a report, which is published and widely distributed. It is also made available to qualified researchers (university professors, graduate students, social service agencies) to use in their own work, typically as they try to make visible the needs of queer youth. There is no personal information in the database that could link a response to you, specifically since we never collect any personal data on exactly who you are. OutProud is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and does not sell nor market the data we collect in this survey; it is made freely available to those qualified individuals and organizations who will use the results to do good. Summary Your privacy is protected as you take this survey. We have no way of connecting you with your responses, nor of ever knowing who you are, nor of ever contacting you as a result of your participation in this study. Your responses are completely confidential and anonymous. Special note to members of the armed services We have taken every precaution we can conceive of to protect your identity, because we are keenly aware of the prejudicial, discriminatory and predatory behaviors of many military organizations towards servicemembers suspected of being queer. We do not collect any personal data which can be used to identify you, nor retain any IP information which could be used to connect any of your responses with any personal computers having dedicated IP addresses (such as those on a LAN at a military base or over a DSL connection). Special note on COPPA compliance The U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 went into effect on April 21, 2024 and sets forth specific legal guidelines with respect to what personal information can be collected from a child, defined to be under the age of 13 years old, by an operator specifically targetting children with their services. This survey does not collect a first name, a last name, an address, an email address, a telephone number, a social security number, nor any other data that may identify a specific individual. OutProud is a non-profit organization and none of this information is sold for commercial purposes. This survey is intended primarily for respondents 13 years and older, although we have younger individuals participate, as well (and everyone, of any age, is absolutely welcome to participate). This survey, therefore, fully complies with the requirements set forth by COPPA.