Privacy protections could hamper agencies' adoption of cookies

[Chris_]

The White House's newly proposed plan to lift a nine-year ban on placing online-tracking devices on federal Web sites could conflict with other government regulations, some privacy and new media specialists said.

Since 2000, agencies have been barred from using cookies -- software that a site deposits on visitors computers to monitor their online behavior, such as recording the visitor's login information -- to protect the public's privacy. Citizens and government officials now say the prohibition prohibits online collaboration. They argue that the private sector has long analyzed users' preferences and settings to customize Web pages for individuals to make their online experiences more personal.

In response, the Office of Management and Budget on Monday issued a Federal Register notice asking the public to comment on a framework that would reverse the ban.

But other bureaucratic barriers could block agencies from rolling out cookies. OMB acknowledged the issue by asking the public's opinion on "unintended or non-obvious privacy implications" of its proposal. An example may be a site that collects a user's IP address, the series of numbers that identifies a user's computer. If an agency collects information that includes the IP address, and the information meets OMB's definition of "information in identifiable form," then it must conduct a privacy impact assessment, OMB officials said...

LINK

Heard about this on Glenn Beck this morning, and this is the only online source I can find for it thus far, but this has come down from the White House's "Science and Technology Czar", the same guy who believes that a child isn't a human at birth, and that sterilants need to be administered in the prole's drinking water.

[Mr Mannn]

Now since when has the law ever stood in the way of a liberal? I expect privacy laws have consistently been violated since Lord O took office.

[thundley4]

Why would they stop at tracking cookies, they could require some spyware program to be accepted so that government site would "load" properly. Something like their own version of flash player or some java crap.

[Chris_]

The hypocrisy of it all never ceases to astound me.  Back in 2001 and again in 2005, the Neo-Communist party (Democrats) came down - rightfully, in my opinion - on the Bush administration NSA and CIA like a ton of bricks in contravention of this "cookie restriction".  The mainstream propaganda ministry harped on the "violation of privacy" incessantly for weeks.  But of course now that Lord Ø and his minions don't just want to do exactly what the eeeee-vil Bushitler Administration did, but reverse the privacy protection as if it never existed in the first place, everybody on the left is all hunky-dory with it.

 

[Thor]

Now since when has the law ever stood in the way of a liberal? I expect privacy laws have consistently been violated since Lord O took office.

Correction........ since Clinton took office. Anybody familiar with Carnivore & Echelon?? And.... GWB didn't give it up. We won't even get into the Patriot Act and it's violations of the 4th Amendment.