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White House says its web-tracking is OK
Here is a followup to the story earlier today that the White House web site uses web bugs. White House Says Web Site Counts Visitors, By ANICK JESDANUN, The Associated Press, December 30, 2005.
The White House said Friday its Web tracking technology is consistent with federal rules because it only counts the number of visitors anonymously and doesn't record personal information.Note that wikipedia says that web bugs "are used when monitoring has to be done by a server that is different than the one holding the Web pages; this is necessary for example when the Web pages are served by different servers, or when the monitoring has to be done by a third party." See also EFF's web bug FAQ. Continue reading
More about persistent cookies and privacy
Chris Dorobek of Federal Computer Week has done a bit of investigation into the status of government web sites' compliance with privacy policies and reports his findings and links to other stories here: Hand in the cookie jar by Chris Dorobek, December 30, 2005, The FCW Insider. He quotes a story (White House to investigate contractor's Web tracking By Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press, December 30, 2005) in the Boston Globe about use of "web bugs" on the White House web site. See also: NSA used persistent web-cookies. Continue reading
News about Massachusetts Open Document Format Controversy
Open document man resigns from Mass CTO post "Tired of being a lightning rod" By Ashlee Vance, Reg Developer, December 29, 2005.
The main cheerleader behind Massachusetts' embrace of the OpenDocument format (ODF) has resigned, saying his role as the state's IT chief has been undermined by controversy surrounding the document battle.Continue reading
NSA used persistent web-cookies
It is essential in a democracy that readers are free to read without fear that the government will monitor what they are reading. When government information is available only from government-controlled web sites, it will be easy for the government to track who is reading what and even track web surfing. Although a 2003 Office of Management and Budget memo prohibits federal agencies from using persistent cookies, news this week is that the National Security Agency site created cookies files that do not expire until 2035, "likely beyond the life of any computer in use today."
Controversy over OMB Policy
OMB policy on posting information sparks debate By Jason Miller, Government Computer News, 12/23/05.
The Office of Management and Budget's new policy asking agencies to improve how they disseminate public information is at the heart of a larger battle over how much categorization is needed to make government information publicly accessible.Patrice McDermott, deputy director for government relations for the American Library Association, said:
"Essentially, what OMB appears to be saying is, for information you want to make publicly accessible, if you put it on your Web site or post it electronically, you have fulfilled all requirements of law....That is not true. That is not the spirit or intent of the law."Continue reading
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