When the Postal Service is either a host (also known as an affiliate) or a merchant for a link to a public interest Web site, we use the following general criteria to select which public interest links to establish:
The public interest organization must:
The affiliation must provide a benefit to the Postal Service by creating Web site traffic to the USPS.com Web site.
The organization must publish and adhere to Internet best business practices for privacy and business policies and follow due care security standards on its Web sites. These requirements are considered met by subscribing to and being in good standing with an independent third-party program from any of the following (or an equivalent policy or practice):
Government agencies and nonprofit organizations that do not subscribe to any of the third-party programs listed must have security, privacy, and terms of use policies equivalent to the Postal Service’s policies.
As technology evolves during the life of the agreement, the organization must use accepted Internet industry standards for secure transactions and communications. The organization must also protect the privacy of the customer or client’s personal information while the customer or client is on the organization’s Web site or the information is stored.
The Postal Service’s brand makes its products and services unique to consumers, employees, and other stakeholders. Accordingly, we select public interest organization links that do not weaken, dilute, damage, or harm the Postal Service’s brand or public image by association, as determined at the sole discretion of the Postal Service.
We consider Web sites that contain any of the following content or attributes inappropriate:
Organizations and individuals that are otherwise not qualified to contract with the Postal Service (i.e., have been suspended or debarred) are not eligible for a linking agreement.
At its sole discretion, the Postal Service may place links on its Web pages or receive links from Web sites that are for companies, products, or services that are directly competitive with the Postal Service, postal products, or postal services if such competitor’s link provides some additional benefit to the Postal Service.
