WASHINGTON, DC — The congressional Office of Management and Budget is soliciting public input as the agency reconsiders a longstanding policy banning the use of cookies to track visitors’ interests and habits on federal government websites.Once controversial because they engage in two-way communication with websites, the tiny electronic packages known as “cookies” help websites tailor information to users’ patterns of behavior. E-commerce and other secure sites use them to store usernames and passwords, in addition to information about previous purchases and other pertinent behavioral data. Because of privacy concerns, the federal government does not employ even the most stripped-down cookies.
However, according to a memo released in late July, the OMB has proposed that federal websites be allowed to track visitors. The change would require agency websites to post prominent notices alerting visitors to the use of tracking technology and providing a means of opting out.
Some constitutional and internet law experts are worried about the suggested change.
“There is a huge underlying policy issue here of why…the federal government [needs] to track its citizens for the purpose of using its websites,” Mark McCreary, a partner at the law firm Fox Rothschild told Federal Computer Week.
A change in the government’s policy about tracking website visitors might put the U.S. at odds with other countries that have codified strict electronic privacy rights, he added. The European Union, for example, considers even IP addresses private data and is likely to take a dim view of government agencies tracking data that is even more personal.
McCreary said he worries about any government’s sudden interest in citizens’ private behaviors.
“It is really important to step back and say, ‘Why does the federal government need to do this? What is the point?’” McCreary noted.
