The White House responded Aug. 11 to critics of a proposed policy change
that would allow federal Websites to use tracking cookies. Since 2000, the
government's policy on tracking cookies has been to simply ban the use of them,
but a July 27 notice in the Federal Register sought comment on reversing the
policy.
Since the notice, the Office of Management and Budget has received plenty of
feedback on the proposed policy, including a filing from the American Civil
Liberties Union claiming the change would allow the mass collection of personal
information of every user of a federal government Website. In addition, rumors
surfaced and quickly made the blogging rounds that the policy would allow
tracking cookies by third parties.
"This privacy issue has recently received some attention in the media. We
want to make it clear that the current policy on Federal agencies' use of
cookies has not changed," Federal CIO
Vivek Kundra and Michael Fitzpatrick, associate director of the OMB's Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, wrote on the White House blog Aug. 11. "Moreover,
the policy won't change until we've read the public comments that have been
submitted to ensure that we're considering all sides of the issue and are
addressing privacy concerns appropriately."
The two also spoke on the rumors about third-party cookies:
We would also like to take this
opportunity to address a potential misperception. Some articles have hinted
that the government is creating special exemptions for third-parties from
existing privacy rules, with the result that there wouldn't be adequate
protection of people's personal information. This is not true. The current
policy in place on persistent cookies continues to apply to all Federal
agencies and to those agencies' use of third-party applications, whenever
personal information is collected on the agency's behalf.
In the July
27 Federal Register notice, the OMB said the administration is considering a
three-tiered approach to the use of tracking cookies. Under the proposed
new policy, cookies would not be used on federal Websites—or by contractors
when operating Websites on behalf of agencies—unless the site posts clear and
conspicuous notice of the use of cookies and the following conditions are met:
a compelling need to gather the data on the site; appropriate and publicly
disclosed privacy safeguards for handling of information derived from cookies;
and personal approval by the head of the agency.
"This is a sea change in government privacy policy," Michael Macleod-Ball,
acting director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, said in a statement.
"Until the OMB answers the multitude of questions surrounding this policy
shift, we will continue to raise our strenuous objections."
The proposed three-tier government approach to using cookies would involve:
- 1st Single-session technologies—which track users over a single session
and do not maintain tracking data over multiple sessions or visits;
- 2nd Multi-session technologies for use in Web analytics—which track
users over multiple sessions purely to gather data to analyze Web traffic
statistics; and
- 3rd Multi-session technologies for use as persistent identifiers—which
track users over multiple visits with the intent of remembering data, settings,
or preferences unique to that visitor for purposes beyond what is needed for
Web analytics.
"Americans rely on the information from the federal government to
research politics, medical issues and legal requirements. The OMB is now asking
to retain the personal and identifiable information we leave behind," said
Christopher Calabrese, counsel for the ACLU Technology and Liberty Project. "No
American should have to sacrifice privacy or risk surveillance in order to
access free government information. No policy change should be adopted without
wide-ranging debate, including information on the restrictions and uses of
cookies as well as impact on privacy."
The OMB sought public comments on, among other things, "acceptable use
and restrictions of each tier" and the "applicability and scope of
such a framework on federal agency use of third-party applications or Websites."
"This past June, we blogged
about ways to enhance citizen participation in government through basic policy
changes, including revisions to the current policy on Web-tracking
technologies. We heard a lot of informal comments on that blog, so we decided
to pursue the more formal comment route through the Federal Register,"
Kundra wrote July 24 on the White House's Office of
Science & Technology Policy Website.
Kundra further noted, "Cookies have become a staple of most commercial Websites,
with widespread public acceptance of their use. For example, every time you use
a 'shopping cart' at an online store, or have a Website remember customized
settings and preferences, cookies are being used."
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