Twelve hours after blogger Chris Soghoian (opens in new tab) revealed privacy[Related: Mobile Application Privacy …][Related: Consumer Privacy Bill of Ri…][Related: Privacy Policy][Related: Mobile Application Privacy …][Related: Consumer Privacy Bill of Ri…][Related: Privacy Policy] concerns about Google’s involvement with the official White House website (opens in new tab), there is some good news.
Although the steps taken by the White House webmasters don’t go far enough, they are steps in the right direction. Here’s what happened:
Federal regulations (opens in new tab) specifically say that “agencies are prohibited from using persistent cookies or any other means (e.g., web beacons) to track visitors’ activity” unless there is a “compelling need.”
Cookies (opens in new tab) are bits of code placed on a browser when a website is visted. They are used for authenticating, session tracking (state maintenance), and maintaining specific information about users.
According to the White House website’s privacy policy (opens in new tab), The White House Counsel has issued a waiver to Google, allowing it to set persistent cookies on users’ computers when they view video files from You Tube that are embedded in the White House website.
On Thursday the site went far beyond the stated privacy policy. Simply going to the page where the video was embedded put a persistent cookie on the viewer’s computer allowing Google to track the user on the government site. After Soghoian’s post, the site was modified so that Google’s cookies are now set only when a viewer clicks on the video. It is also possible to download the video with getting a cookie.
The White House apparently took notice of privacy concerns and acted. That’s a good thing, but in fact there is no “compelling reason” to allow Google to gather information about visitors to the White House website and to monitor WhiteHouse.gov visitors’ video choices, thus amassing more data for Google’s business purposes. In addition, the fact that Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt is a major Obama supporter creates the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The White House needs to rescind the waiver for You Tube immediately and halt this intrusive practice. There are a myriad of ways to display video on a website without setting persistent cookies.
