Road User Study Privacy Policy

The University of Iowa Public Policy Center is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy applies to the Road User Study Web site and governs data collection and usage. By using the Road User Study website (www.roaduserstudy.org), you consent to the data practices described in this statement.

The information you provide is never shared with anyone other than members of the Road User Study research team at the University of Iowa, unless required by law. The law may require us to share collected information with authorized law enforcement, homeland security, and national security activities.

 
What Information is to be collected?

If you complete the National Evaluation of a Mileage-Based Road User Charge participant recruitment survey on the Road User Study web site, we request certain personal information such as:

  • date of birth
  • race
  • income information
  • educational level
  • driving behaviors
  • attitudes toward various issues.

 

In addition, you must provide certain contact information, including:

  • name
  • address
  • telephone or e-mail contact

 

We use this information to help ensure the participant pool is representative of the community and for contacting you if/when you are selected to participate in the study.

 
What Information is Automatically Collected Online?
When you visit this Web site, we collect information about your visit that does not identify you personally.  This information is collected by the internet security software that we use to protect the Web site.  The software automatically generates a log of site access events that includes the IP address of the computer from which you accessed the site as well as the type of computer, the web browser and internet service you used, and the date and time of your visit.  This information is collected and stored solely for security purposes and would be used only to determine the source of a malicious attack on the Web site.
Why this information is being collected?

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation has contracted with the University of Iowa to conduct a study of a mileage-based road user charge system.  In order to adequately field-test the mileage based road user charge system, a large pool of participants will be needed.  A distribution of three main characteristics will be selected for a one-year field study.

The characteristics we are taking into account include:

·          Demographic characteristics. Measures include age, gender, ethnicity, education, and region of the country.

·          Driving behavior. This includes driving a large or small number of miles annually, having long or short commutes, and driving a fuel efficient or less efficient vehicle.

·          Attitudinal profile. In these profiles, we are including indications of the general level of confidence in government, importance of personal privacy, feelings about the quality of road system management, and beliefs regarding whether more resources are needed to maintain and construct roads.

 

What is the intended use of the information?

The personal information that you give on the Road User Study web site will be used solely for the purpose of selecting participants for the field testing. 

 

With whom the information will be shared?

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside of the Road User Study team unless required to do so by law.              

 

What notice or opportunities for consent would be provided to individuals regarding what information is collected and how that information is shared?

Prior to beginning the Road User Study survey, individuals will be given instructions informing them that by using the Road User Study website (www.roaduserstudy.org), they consent to the data practices described in this statement.

 

How the information will be secured?

We will safeguard the security of the data you send us with physical, electronic, and managerial procedures. We do this in the following ways:

  • Limit physical access to your information to only those study team members who need it to perform their study related duties.
  • Train all study personnel on study privacy and security policies.
  • Limit electronic access to your information to only those study team members who need it to perform their study related duties, including among other security measures:
    • Password Protected Access
    • Computer Firewalls
    • Data Encryption
    • Secure Sockets Layer (SSL-128) communications encryption technology
  • Periodically test system security via vulnerability scans.
  • Periodically back up data stored on the system.

 

Likewise, we urge you to take every precaution to protect your personal data when you are on the Internet.

 

Cookies or Other Tracking Devices

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user's computer for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on this site. We do not link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site.

We use session cookies. A session cookie remains on your hard drive for a short amount of time, during the time of completing the Road User Study questionnaire on-line. It then expires after you exit the Road User Study questionnaire.

 

System of Records

 

The Mileage-Based Road User Charge System is not a system of records subject to the Privacy Act, as this is a study and no decisions are being made on individuals.  Therefore, FHWA will not publish a System of Records Notice in the Federal Register.  As stated previously, the information collection is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act and FHWA has obtained the required OMB approval.  The Privacy Impact Assessment statement for this collection can be accessed on the Internet from http://www.dot.gov/pia.html.

 
Changes to this Privacy Statement

If we see a need to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes to this privacy statement, and the homepage, so that you are aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it.  We must reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page.

 
Contact us

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at roaduserstudy@uiowa.edu