Pubdate: Wed, 16 Aug 2000
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright: 2000, The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
Contact:  PO Box 59038, Knoxville, TN 37950-9038
Website: http://www.knoxnews.com/
Forum: http://forums.knoxnews.com/cgi-bin/WebX?knoxnews
Author: Lance Gay

DESPITE FEDERAL ORDER, SOME GOVERNMENT SITES STILL SNOOPING

WASHINGTON - The government is still grinding out "cookie" programs two
months after a White House directive ordered Webmasters to quit snooping on
Internet visitors to federal sites.

While many government Web sites - including the White House drug czar's
office - shut down their cookie operations after the June order, a survey of
federal sites this week found some still delivering cookies.

Cookies are small software programs placed in an individual's computer when
he or she visits Web sites. Commercial companies use cookies to track the
buying habits of individuals, and they also can be used to compile databases
on the tastes of individuals.

Among the sites still dispensing cookies is the Federal Reserve's bank site
in Chicago (http://www.frbchi.org), which has a privacy policy posted that
states: "We do not use cookies."

Bank officials said they thought the cookie programs had been disabled. "It
was our intent not to have cookies up there," said Suzanne Heffner, a bank
spokeswoman. "We're happy to have it called to our attention, and it will be
eliminated."

Other sites delivering cookies were the U.S. Mint at http://www.usmint.gov,
and the Army's Training and Doctrine Command at http://www.tradoc.army.mil.
The Mint had no immediate comment. Army spokesman Harvey Perritt said the GI
cookies are designed to help visitors use the Web site.

The House last month passed by voice vote a rider on next year's
Treasury-Postal Service spending bill that gives agencies 90 days to disable
all government cookie programs, or notify Congress why they want to continue
using them.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., sponsor of the amendment, said the government has
no right to use computer technology to snoop on visitors to Web sites that
were created to provide free U.S. government information to taxpayers.

He said the requirement that agencies notify Congress of continued cookie
use would give lawmakers an opportunity to review whether agencies are
violating privacy rights.

"There are very legitimate privacy concerns that Congress ought to be aware
of before those agency monitoring activities are allowed to continue,"
Inslee said.

Jack Lew, director of the Office of Management and Budget, in June ordered
all agencies to stop using cookies technology unless there was a compelling
reason to do so. Spokeswoman Linda Ricci said the agency is pleased that
many government Web sites had discontinued such programs.

"We look forward to more as time progresses,'' she said. She noted that all
government agencies will be forced to review their cookie and computer
privacy policies when they submit their new budgets for Fiscal Year 2002
this fall. "We've made them aware of our direction regarding cookies,'' she
said. "Protecting privacy is an important goal of this administration."

The budget office directive came after Scripps Howard News Service disclosed
that the White House drug czar's office was using cookies to track visitors
to anti-drug sites. The drug office had employed the advertising firm
Doubleclick.Com to find out what users were doing on their sites.
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