IC3 Website Privacy Policy

The IC3 Website Privacy Policy described below complies with the DOJ-wide Privacy Policy. Language specific to the administration of the IC3 Website is included here as a supplement to the DOJ-wide Privacy Policy. For additional information, please also see the FBI's Privacy Policy.

The IC3 uses the data collected at this website to process complaint information and to collect and store certain information. When you visit our site, we may automatically collect and store the following information whether or not you file a complaint:

• Your domain name (for example, "xyz123abc-company.com" if you use a private Internet account, or "yourschool.edu" if you are connecting from a university's domain).
• The IP address, a number automatically assigned to your computer when you go online, from which you access our website.
• The type of browser and operating system used to access our site.
• The date and time you access our site.
• The Internet address of the website from which you accessed our site.
• The pages you visit on our site and the information you request.

We use this information to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of our site, and to help make our site more useful to future visitors. Information acquired by the IC3 Website that we automatically collect from every visitor will not be sold or transferred to third parties unless it relates to a site security matter as discussed below.

The IC3 uses the data voluntarily submitted by complainants at this website to help victims of cyber-enabled crime. Your complaint, should you choose to submit one, is maintained and controlled by the FBI. Thereafter, the IC3 may pursue preliminary inquiries and information from the complaint, along with other information developed at IC3, may be referred to a federal, state, local, or international law enforcement or regulatory agency, as appropriate, including the FBI. Whether your complaint is referred to another agency or not, the data you voluntarily submit on the complaint form will be maintained by the FBI and be available for future retrieval and possible referral to one or more enforcement agencies.

Information solicited by IC3 on the complaint form assists personnel in processing complaints. Disclosure of such information is strictly voluntary, however, failure to provide certain information solicited will result in the complaint not being properly registered. No action will be taken on incomplete complaints. However, data submitted from incomplete complaints may still be stored and maintained for potential retrieval and dissemination. Any complaint information you affirmatively choose to provide to the IC3 may be referred to one or more appropriate enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction over your complaint. This may include agencies at all levels of government, including federal, state, local, and international law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Such referrals are the principal purposes for which the information voluntarily submitted is intended to be used. Information provided in complaints may also be shared with private sector partners when the FBI determines sharing such information is necessary to elicit information or cooperation to assist the FBI in authorized investigative activity. That information may include, but is not limited to, information associated with malicious actors, their tools, infrastructure, financial accounts, other technical indicators, or tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Unless reasonably necessary to obtaining assistance, complainant PII and other identifying information will not be shared with private sector partners. The confidentiality of the complaint information you provide may be affected by differing state law. As such, we cannot guarantee that your complaint will remain confidential. The IC3 does not decide which complaints will be actively investigated by any agency. The IC3 cannot make any representations or guarantees as to the action that may or may not be taken on any complaint.

You may volunteer to provide us personal identifying information, for example your mailing address, by filing a complaint. Before you do so, you should know that various people might see the material you submit. We may enter the information into a database and we may share it with other agencies. Information collected may be used for responding to complaints, as well as other authorized purposes.

For site security purposes, and to ensure that this service remains available to all users, all network traffic is monitored in order to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage or conduct criminal activity.

Site information may be distributed or copied, subject to Sections 701 and 709 of Title 18, U.S. Code. Unauthorized use of the FBI seal, the words "Federal Bureau of Investigation," the initials "FBI," or any imitation in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the impression that such [activity]...is approved, endorsed, or authorized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation is prohibited. For additional information, see https://www.justice.gov/legalpolicies.

When you file a complaint, we use secure socket layer (SSL) encryption to protect the information you submit. The information you provide is securely stored.

The collection of information on this form is authorized by one or more of the following statutes: 18 U.S.C. § 1028 (false documents and identity theft); 1028A (aggravated identity theft); 18 U.S.C. § 1029 (credit card fraud); 18 U.S.C. § 1030 (computer fraud); 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud); 18 U.S.C 2318B (counterfeit and illicit labels); 18 U.S.C. § 2319 (violation of intellectual property rights); 28 U.S.C. § 533 (FBI authorized to investigate violations of federal law for which it has primary investigative jurisdiction); and 28 U.S.C. § 534 (FBI authorized to collect and maintain identification, criminal information, crime, and other records).

The collection of this information is relevant and necessary to document and investigate complaints of cyber-enabled crime. Submission of the information requested is voluntary; however, your failure to supply requested information may impede or preclude the investigation of your complaint by law enforcement agencies.

The information collected is maintained in one or more of the following Privacy Act Systems of Records:

• the FBI Central Records System, JUSTICE/FBI-002, notice of which was last published, in full, in the Federal Register at 63 Fed. Reg. 8671 (Feb. 20, 1998), and amended at 66 Fed. Reg. 8425 (Jan. 31, 2001); 66 Fed. Reg. 17200 (Mar. 29, 2001); and 82 Fed. Reg. 24147 (May 25, 2017);
• the FBI Data Warehouse System, JUSTICE/FBI-022, notice of which was last published, in full, in the Federal Register at 77 Fed. Reg. 40631 (July 10, 2012), and amended at 82 Fed. Reg. 24151, 157 (May 25, 2017).

The information collected may be disclosed in accordance with the Routine Uses referenced in the System of Records Notices, hyperlinked above, or as otherwise permitted by law. For example, in accordance with those Routine Uses, the FBI may disclose information from your complaint to appropriate federal, state, local, tribal or international law enforcement, regulatory agencies, and private sector partners, and may be disclosed to any Federal agency where the purpose in making the disclosure is compatible with the law enforcement purpose for which it was collected.

A "cookie" is a file placed on your computer's hard drive or in memory by a website that allows the site to monitor your use of the site, usually without your knowledge. Navigation through the "Complaint" section of our site requires the use of session cookies. This means that cookies are placed on your computer's memory during the time you are filing a complaint. These cookies are active only when a user is actually filing a complaint. Disabling cookies on your browser will prevent you from filing a complaint. Users of our site who do not file a complaint do not encounter session cookies.