SCN: Feds' Hands Caught in Cookie Jar

[Brian High]

Feds' Hands Caught in Cookie Jar
by Declan McCullagh

3:00 a.m. Jun. 30, 2000 PDT
WASHINGTON -- Federal agencies are ignoring stern White House instructions
not to use cookies on government websites.

Dozens of U.S. government sites, including ones operated by the Justice
Department, the Defense Department, and the Energy Department continue
sending
cookies to the computers of unsuspecting visitors.

An investigation by Wired News shows that these agencies and many others
appear to be violating a Clinton administration directive that halted the
controversial
practice last week. Cookies track what people do online, and government use
of them may also run afoul of a 1974 privacy law.

"'Cookies' should not be used at federal websites, or by contractors when
operating websites on behalf of agencies," Jacob Lew, director of the White
House's
Office of Management and Budget (OMB), wrote in a memo to agencies last
Thursday. Lew's memo came after news reports revealed the White House's drug
policy office used cookies to surreptitiously track behavior.

But the agencies aren't paying attention. In the Defense Department, at
least 13 websites continue to use cookies, including the U.S. European
Command, the Air
Force Space Command, a Pentagon records agency, and the Army's training
command.

So do Federal Reserve banks, the U.S. Mint, the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Wired News conducted its investigation by writing a Perl program to connect
to the website of every agency and commission listed in the U.S. Government
Manual, an official government publication. After connecting, the program
recorded whether or not each website used cookies, and if the cookies were
temporary
or permanent.

[...]

http://www.wirednews.com/news/print/0,1294,37314,00.html

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