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more on The Whitehouse Web site is bugged
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 06:30:25 -0500
Begin forwarded message: From: Guy Creese <guy.creese () ballardvale com> Date: December 28, 2005 4:13:10 PM EST To: "'David Farber'" <dave () farber net> Subject: RE: The Whitehouse Web site is bugged Reply-To: guy.creese () ballardvale com This is quoting out of context to grab headlines.The OMB memo (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/m00-13.html), which
Mr. Smith quotes and then cuts off before it gets to the important part, says, "Under this new Federal policy, "cookies" should not be used atFederal web sites, or by contractors when operating web sites on behalf of agencies, unless, in addition to clear and conspicuous notice, the following
conditions are met: a compelling need to gather the data on the site; appropriate and publicly disclosed privacy safeguards for handling ofinformation derived from "cookies"; and personal approval by the head of the
agency."The White House's Web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/privacy.html) is very clear about what information it gathers and why, pointing out that if you just browse the site it does not gather personal information, and that it gathers general information about browsing on the Web site to improve user
experience.Performing Web analytics on a large Web site is not atypical, it's the norm. Given that the White House Web site gets a good amount of traffic, I'm glad they're watching traffic trends and presumably tweaking the site. If our
government is to be more accessible to its citizens, a well-designed Web site is certainly an important part of that effort. Guy Creese, Managing Principal Ballardvale Research -- Counsel for Online Best Practices http://www.ballardvale.com guy.creese () ballardvale com (978) 764-3262 Columnist for DMReview.com Co-Chair, Standards Committee, Web Analytics Association Blogger for Ballardvale Blog and EphBlog -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 6:40 PM To: Ip Ip Subject: The Whitehouse Web site is bugged Begin forwarded message: From: "Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com> Date: December 27, 2005 11:43:49 AM EST To: EPIC_IDOF () mailman epic org Subject: [EPIC_IDOF] The Whitehouse Web site is bugged Hi, The Whitehouse.gov Web site is bugged! Apparently the Webmaster for the site has hired Webtrends to track visitors around the site using Web bugs and permanent cookies. Here's the Web bug that I found on the home page of the Whitehouse.gov Web site: <SCRIPT src="/js/stat.js" language="javascript" TYPE="text/javascript"></SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <IMG ALT="" BORDER="0" NAME="DCSIMG" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" SRC="http://statse.webtrendslive.com/DCSArO55rNH8I36lrbe6wexE5_5B8I/ njs.gif? dcsuri=/nojavascript&WT.js=No"> </NOSCRIPT> Similar Web bugs can be found on other Web pages at the Whitehouse Web site. Before 9/11, the Clinton administration said this kind of Web tracking is a no-no for U.S. government Web sites: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/memoranda/m00-13.html Because of the unique laws and traditions about government access to citizens' personal information, the presumption should be that "cookies" will not be used at Federal web sites. Under this new Federal policy, "cookies" should not be used at Federal web sites, or by contractors when operating web sites on behalf of agencies, unless, in addition to clear and conspicuous notice, the following conditions are met: a compelling need to gather the data on the site; Richard M. Smith http://www.ComputerBytesMan.com _______________________________________________ EPIC_IDOF mailing list EPIC_IDOF () mailman epic org https://mailman.epic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/epic_idof ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- more on The Whitehouse Web site is bugged David Farber (Dec 29)