National Beacon Registration Database Privacy Policy

Introduction


The NOAA-SARSAT National Beacon Registration website is provided as a public service by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service. Information presented on these pages is not considered public information and is only distributed to the appropriate government agencies for Search and Rescue purposes. This policy covers privacy, disclaimers, security, and information collection practices.

When you visit our website


The information you furnish when registering your emergency beacon at the NOAA-SARSAT National Beacon Registration Database is mandatory and is intended to assist search and rescue teams in locating you or your craft in the event of beacon activation. The registration information can be furnished by entering it via the beacon registration web interface or by filling out the respective registration form and sending it to NOAA-SARSAT by fax or mail.

Sharing and Protection of Information


This information will be provided to the United States Coast Guard, United States Air Force, and other Search and Rescue (SAR) teams as appropriate in the event of beacon activation. It will also be used to conserve SAR resources by helping to eliminate false alert deployments, as an inadvertent activation can be resolved with a phone call.

Passwords are required to access and/or update a beacon registration. These passwords will not be distributed to any third party outside of NOAA-SARSAT.

Failure to register, re-register, or to notify NOAA-SARSAT of a change in the status for a 406 MHz beacon could result in penalties and/or fines being issued to the owner. An owner is required to notify NOAA-SARSAT of any changes to the registration information. Please note, NOAA-SARSAT will complement or update the database accordingly when a beacon owner’s registration expires and credible information is provided from SAR sources. NOAA-SARSAT will also seek information from other databases to update and/or complement the existing information for a beacon registration. Solicitation of this information is authorized by Parts 80,87, and 95, Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).

Web Site Security


For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to the intended users, this government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Users are required to create or are provided passwords in order to access their information via this web site. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.

Cookies


"Cookies" are small bits of text that are either used for the duration of a session (session cookies) or saved on a user's hard drive in order to identify that user or information about that user the next time she/he logs onto a website (persistent cookies). This website does not use persistent cookies or any other persistent tracking technology. One or more of our component sites may use session cookies to provide streamlined navigation. These session cookies are deleted from the component's server after your session ends, and information from them is not collected or saved.

Email Sent to NOAA-SARSAT


By sending an electronic mail message (email) to the Beacon Registration system, you may be sending personal information. In these cases, we may retain the information not only to respond to your request, but also as a record of correspondence according to Department of Commerce guidelines.

Scope of Beacon Registration Privacy Policy


The Beacon Registration Privacy Policy applies only to the webpages of this subsystem. Other NOAA and Department of Commerce organizations may have different Privacy Policies and/or information collection practices. You are encouraged to check the Privacy Statements when going to other NOAA webpages, or when following links to external webpages. The NOAA Privacy Statement can be found here: https://www.noaa.gov/protecting-your-privacy Web site visitors can view their rights under the Privacy Act by following this link: https://www.foia.gov

Google Analytics Premium


This website uses Google Analytics Premium. Please refer to the following policies on Google’s website for more information:

Questions or Comments


If you have any questions or comments about the information presented here, please forward them to the RGDB Webmaster.