Online Privacy Policy

This notice provides an overview of how and why the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta (the Bank) collects and uses information, both personal and nonpersonal, obtained through its website and economic surveys. This collecting of information is in addition to the types of data collection that the Bank's Data Privacy Policy outlines.

Monitoring

The Bank monitors this website for unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, defeat or circumvent security measures, or use this site for anything other than its intended purposes. By using this website, you consent to such monitoring and are advised that if our monitoring reveals possible evidence of criminal activity, the Bank may provide such evidence to appropriate law enforcement officials.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used to make websites work or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site. Cookies may be used to store items such as identifiers and user preferences.

This website makes limited and specific use of permanent cookies. First, we use cookies to track user traffic patterns on this website. A cookie contains an alphanumeric string that identifies your computer as having visited atlantafed.org. When you return to the website, we will know that you have visited before and that will give us information about what you found valuable on our site.

In addition, we may make occasional use of the same kind of cookie for user research, such as to administer user surveys, so that we invite you to participate in a survey only once. In this example, the cookie's presence on your computer will indicate to the website that you are a returning user and have already responded to the invitation.

Finally, we may make use of permanent cookies to enable you to customize the appearance or content of this website. This cookie does not record any information about you or your computer other than what we describe above, nor can we use it to gather or correlate information about your activities elsewhere on the internet.

Your participation will help us meet our goal of providing you with an easy-to-use website and high-quality content. You can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie, allowing you to decide whether to accept it or not. You can also set your browser to not accept cookies at all. However, if you do so, some areas of some sites, including atlantafed.org, may not operate properly.

Transient memory-resident cookies or temporary session cookies are used to maintain a user's state of navigation during a browser session and expire from memory once the session is ended. This website may from time to time use transient memory-resident cookies for online surveys, for example. In addition, sometimes a third-party vendor will use cookies on one of the sites it operates, hosts, or manages for us—for example, for online registration of certain conferences and workshops. Since the Bank does not operate a third-party vendor's website, this online privacy policy does not apply to the collection of personal information or any other information by that site.

This website uses Google Analytics and other similar vendors to collect anonymous information about our users and how they use the site. This information includes, but is not limited to:

How you visit the site: from a desktop computer, mobile device, or tablet
Which web browser you're using and its version: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, etc.
Which pages you visit and how long you stay on them (within a single browser session)

In addition, we have enabled Google Analytics' demographics and interest reporting, which gives us insight, on an anonymous and aggregate level, into user behavior based on age, gender, and interest. You can opt out of this reporting by reviewing your Google ads settings, ad settings for mobile apps, or any other available means.

We also partner with Microsoft Clarity and Microsoft Advertising to capture how you use and interact with our website through behavioral metrics, heatmaps, and session replay to improve and market our products and services. We use third-party cookies and other tracking technologies to capture website usage data to determine the popularity of products and services and online activity. Additionally, we use this information for site optimization, fraud and security purposes, and advertising. For more information about how Microsoft collects and uses your data, visit the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

We use this information strictly to improve the experience and usability of the Atlanta Fed website and to help us identify and diagnose any errors or issues. We do not correlate this information in Google Analytics with any registered profiles in our database. In other words, we have no way to know anything about you as an individual.

Collection of personal information

You may voluntarily provide personal information to the Bank for purposes such as to:

Participate in surveys
Apply for employment
Register for events
Subscribe to newsletters or email notifications

Information collected will vary depending on the purpose of collection but you provide this information voluntarily. By providing this information to the Bank, you consent to the information being used and shared as is required to fulfill the purpose of the services you requested, as described in the notification you receive at the time of collection.

Collection of information for surveys

The Bank conducts several economic surveys, such as the Survey of Business Uncertainty, the Business Inflation Expectations Survey, and the Survey and Diary of Consumer Payments Choice. Most surveys collect information from businesses rather than individuals, but survey responses may include some personally identifiable information.

Survey of Business Uncertainty

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta/Chicago Booth/Stanford Survey of Business Uncertainty is a panel survey that measures the one-year-ahead expectations and uncertainties that business firms across the United States have about their own employment and sales revenue growth. A firm's participation in this survey is voluntary, and the Bank's use of personal data is carried out with the participant's consent.

The survey collects information at the firm level, but includes some individual business contact information such as names and email addresses. From time to time, we will share business contact information with our survey partners at Chicago Booth or Stanford to facilitate information collection and interviews. We share no other information without first deidentifying it.

The safeguarding of this information is important to the Bank. We take precautions to secure survey information provided to us and to work only with partners who take similar precautions to safeguard this data.

Business Inflation Expectations Survey

The Business Inflation Expectations Survey measures the year-ahead inflationary sentiments of businesses located in the Sixth District of the Federal Reserve System. This is an online survey of approximately 300 panelists representing businesses of various sizes within the Sixth District. The survey collects information at an enterprise level, but includes some individual business contact information such as contact names and email addresses. A firm's participation in this survey is voluntary, and the Bank's use of personal data is carried out with the participant's consent. We do not share information collected for this survey with third parties unless it is deidentified.

The CFO Survey

The Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's CFO Survey is a panel survey that measures optimism and expectations over a wide range of firm-level and aggregate economic quantities from firms across the United States. A firm's participation in this survey is voluntary, and the Bank's use of personal data is carried out with the participant's consent.

The survey collects information at the firm level, but includes some individual business contact information such as names and email addresses. We share business contact information with our survey partners at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond on a regular basis. From time to time, we share contact information with our partner at Duke to facilitate information collection and interviews. We share no other information without first deidentifying it.

Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta does not collect personally identifiable information for the Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice. This survey uses deidentified data obtained from the University of Southern California Understanding America Study. For more information about the Understanding America Study, please visit their web page.

Although the Bank deidentifies the information it obtains, we continue to take precautions to secure survey information provided to us and to work only with partners who take similar precautions to safeguard this data.

Check Sample Survey

The Check Sample Survey is an ongoing effort to quantify aggregate payment volumes, payments fraud, and related information in the United States to offer a periodic benchmark of developments in the US payments system to policymakers, the industry, and the public. Check Sample Survey reports appear in the list of the Atlanta Fed's Retail Payments Risk Forum papers.

This study collects information relating to check payments, including distribution and purpose of payments from a random sample of checks processed by the Federal Reserve Financial Services pursuant to Federal Reserve Banks Operating Circular 1, Section 7.3

The safeguarding of this information is important to the Bank. We take precautions to secure survey information, both in transit and at rest, and to limit access to the data to those with a need to know.

Small Business Credit Survey

The Small Business Credit Survey is a national survey that provides insight into the financing needs and experiences of businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Although the survey primarily collects business-level data, some personal information may be collected when relevant to the purpose of the study, such as personal financial information for business owners who rely on personal credit to finance their business. A firm's participation in this survey is voluntary, and the Bank's use of personal data is carried out with the participant's consent.

From time to time, we share data with other Federal Reserve Banks, subject to confidentiality requirements. We do not share survey information outside of the Federal Reserve System without first deidentifying it.

Collection of information for job applicants

We collect information from you in connection with processing your application, including:

Name, address, telephone number, email address, and other contact information
Username and password
Work authorization status
Curriculum vitae or résumé, cover letter, previous work experience and education information
Skills
Professional and other work-related licenses, permits and certifications held
Information relating to references
Any other information you elect to provide to us, such as employment preferences, willingness to relocate, current salary, desired salary, awards or professional memberships

In certain cases, we ask questions about race/ethnic origin, gender, and disability of our applicants, for the monitoring of equal opportunity compliance. We may also inquire about criminal records, where permitted by applicable law. Except as specifically requested or legally required, we ask that you avoid submitting information that may qualify as sensitive information under applicable law. Sensitive information includes data about race, religion, ethnicity, nationality or national origin, age, gender identity, sex life or practices or sexual orientation, marital status, medical or health information (including disability status), genetic or biometric information, biometric templates, political or philosophical beliefs, political party or trade union membership, veteran status, background check information, and judicial data such as criminal records or information on other judicial or administrative proceedings.

Any information you submit for your job application must be true, complete, and not misleading. Purposely submitting inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information may lead to rejection of your application during the application process or, if identified after employed with the company, disciplinary action including immediate termination of employment. In addition, it is your responsibility to ensure that information you submit does not violate any third party's rights.

If you provide us with personal information of a reference or any other individual as part of your application, it is your responsibility to obtain consent from that individual prior to providing the reference.

The information about you will be added to our Careers system(s) or database(s), and can be retained and used to consider you for opportunities at the Bank other than the one(s) for which you apply. If you do not wish us to do this, please contact us at ATL.Recruiting.HR@atl.frb.org.

If we hire you, personal information we collect in connection with your application may be incorporated into our human resources system and used to manage the new-hire process; any such information can become part of your employee file and used for other employment-related purposes.

We will limit access to such personal information to personnel who need to know the information for the purpose of considering your application, including personnel in the recruiting, Human Resources, and Information Technology Departments, and in the department responsible for the position for which you are applying.

The Bank also shares personal information with approved third-party service providers to facilitate services provided to us, including hosting and operating the job application site, recruiting assistance, and background-check processing.

Collection of contact information for all purposes, including subscriptions and events

Please note that receiving email or other types of communications from the Bank may be a requirement of your receipt of or participation in any service you requested. By providing your email address or other contact information to us, you agree to waive any claim against the Bank for any messages you may receive or any resulting harm to you or your computer from receiving such messages. The Bank assumes no responsibility for any inaccuracies in any messages you receive. You can opt out of receiving these emails by following the instructions at the bottom of all emails you receive from us or by contacting webmaster@atl.frb.org.

You also authorize the Bank to maintain your name and contact information in its files and send you email notifications until you notify the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, in accordance with the procedures detailed in the email notification, that you wish to unsubscribe to the service. To update your contact information, visit our subscriptions page.

If you provide us with your postal or email address, or telephone or fax number, we use this information only for the purpose for which you provided it, such as to

provide you with the publications or information you requested
register you for a tour, conference, or other event
clarify your request or registration
correspond with you regarding your job application
provide you with related information

When you fill out our online forms, they may be delivered to a Bank email address or database. Your online communications are not encrypted. We cannot guarantee the security of any information sent electronically, whether submitted via online form or email. If your communication is sensitive or includes personal information that you do not wish to send to us electronically, send it by postal mail to:

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Attention: Digital Strategy
Public Affairs Department
1000 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30309

If you register for an event online, we may hold onto your registration information for the purpose of contacting you in the future about this event or similar events. If you do not want us to keep your registration information, you must tell us so by sending your request to: webmaster@atl.frb.org.

Sharing of personal information

Generally, any information collected through this website, whether individual or aggregate, is for the Bank's use only. The Bank will not sell or rent its email lists for commercial purposes.

We do not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other people or nonaffiliated companies except when we have your permission or under the following circumstances:

When we retain the services of other Federal Reserve Banks, outside agents, or third parties under contract with the Bank. Such personal information is only provided to, and is only used by, those parties in conjunction with the services they provide to the Bank. This may include sharing your contact information with institutions that partner with us to host conferences such as the Financial Markets Conference.
We may occasionally share our lists with consultants we hire to help us improve our business practices or with other Federal Reserve Banks for cross-collaboration projects.
When we are required to disclose personal information about you to government officials or otherwise as required by subpoenas, court orders, legal process, or other legal obligations and to establish or exercise our legal rights or defend against claims. We will share and/or use information to investigate, prevent, or take action against illegal activities or suspected fraud.

We use third-party tools to distribute email communications. These tools may collect analytics information at the email address level only, to identify whether you have opened an email communication, for example, and what links you have clicked. We use this information only to gauge the effectiveness of certain email communications and marketing campaigns so that we can make improvements.

Maintenance of personal information

The safeguarding of personal information is important to the Bank, and we will take appropriate administrative, physical, and technical measures to protect personal information. While we endeavor to maintain the security of personal information in our possession, we cannot guarantee such security.

The Bank is not responsible for the security of personal information or any other information you provide while it is being transmitted to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's website, through email or otherwise. When the Bank retains a third-party service provider to store or process personal information, that provider will be assessed for their ability to meet industry standard security measures to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of your personal information.

If you have voluntarily submitted personal information to us and wish to review, update, correct, or delete it, please email your request to: webmaster@atl.frb.org.

Children

This website is not directed to children under the age of 13, nor does the Bank knowingly collect, maintain, or use personal information obtained through this website about children under the age of 13. Minor children should always obtain parental consent before releasing information to this or any website.

Links to external websites

This website contains links to other websites. The Bank is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those websites. By linking to external sites, the Bank does not imply endorsement of the site's sponsor.

Links to social media and other third-party websites

The Bank uses certain third-party social media sites as additional means of reaching the public and directing people to resources on frbatlanta.org. The Bank maintains an official page or presence on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

You can access the Bank's official pages on social media sites without having an account or subscribing to services.

As noted above, the Bank's privacy policy does not apply on these third-party websites and therefore you should familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of the social media site you use.

Other considerations

From time to time, we may give users the opportunity to comment on our content. Be aware that information you submit in connection with such a feature will be publicly viewable and not confidential. There is risk in such communication venues that others will collect and use this information.

Policy changes

We reserve the right to change this policy at any time without notice. If any change to this online privacy policy affects the way we use personal information, we will provide an avenue for you to opt out of such use. Otherwise, the Bank will not provide you with notice of changes to this policy. You are responsible for reviewing this policy from time to time for any such changes.

This privacy policy was last updated January 8, 2024.

Contact information

You may direct questions or comments about the privacy policy of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's website to our website administrator at privacy@atl.frb.org.