cannabisnews.com: Drug Office Ends Tracking of Web Users 





Drug Office Ends Tracking of Web Users 
Posted by FoM on June 22, 2000 at 09:43:13 PT
White House Admits Privacy Concerns 
Source: New York Times
The White House conceded today that it might have violated federal privacy guidelines, and it ordered its Office of National Drug Control Policy to stop using a software device that tracks computer users who view the government's antidrug advertisements on the Internet. To monitor traffic on its Internet sites for children and parents, the White House's drug policy office has employed computer files known as cookies, which are placed in computers electronically -- usually without the knowledge of users -- to monitor their Internet travels. 
The software is widely used by commercial Web sites to record information about the shopping habits and other interests of their users. But White House officials said they saw a distinction between companies tracking customers and the government doing similar monitoring. "People shouldn't have to worry when they're getting information from the government that the government is getting information from them," said an administration official who worked on the matter. The firm that installed the devices, DoubleClick, a New York advertising company that specializes in the Internet, said it used the monitoring software to measure which ads were most effective in sending computer users to the drug office's Web sites. DoubleClick outraged privacy-rights advocates and prompted an investigation of the company by the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year when it said it would merge anonymous data about Web surfers with personal information it has in other databases. The company has since suspended the plan, awaiting the outcome of negotiations between the industry and the F.T.C. on voluntary privacy standards. "It's totally anonymous," a DoubleClick spokesman, Josh Isay, said of the monitoring for the drug policy office. "It's not used for profiling. It's not shared with anyone else."  "We will take all steps necessary to halt these practices now."  Most large commercial Internet sites, including those of The New York Times and other news organizations, make use of cookies. But the White House, concerned about privacy violations, ordered the practice stopped after it was reported this week by Scripps Howard News Service. The White House also required the destruction of any data gathered by DoubleClick and another contractor, the Coleman Design Group of Washington. In the Coleman case, visitors to a drug office Web site for parents were tracked by software that had been installed without the knowledge of even drug officials, aides said. "We will take all steps necessary to halt these practices now," the White House spokesman, Joe Lockhart, said. White House officials said they did not know if other government sites monitored users but that if they did the practice would stop. The drug policy office operates two antidrug Web sites, one for children and another for parents. It will spend $12 million this year, part of a $130 million advertising budget, to direct computer users to those sites. Computer users visiting certain youth-oriented Web sites receive banner antidrug ads at the top of their screens. If the users click on those ads to reach the drug policy office, cookies are installed. The office also made deals with search engines so that computer users who search the Internet with drug terms like "pot" or "weed" would receive antidrug advertisements on their computer screens. General Barry McCaffrey, director of the drug policy office, was traveling and could not be reached for comment. But his aides said they had no idea they had crossed any lines of propriety. "We thought we were doing the right thing," said Donald Maple, a senior policy analyst at the office, "and we thought we were being very sensitive to the nature of privacy." John D. Podesta, the White House chief of staff, sent a firmly worded letter to the drug office today asking officials to explain how they had reached such arrangements. This was not the first time the office has been forced to scale back its antidrug campaign. In January, officials said they would stop reviewing TV scripts under a financial agreement with the networks that had encouraged them to include antidrug messages in the plots of shows. Officials reviewed more than 100 episodes of shows like "E.R." and "Beverly Hills 90210" before they ran. They said they would continue to reward networks for shows with strong antidrug themes, but they would not review the shows until they had been televised. By Marc LaceyPublished: June 22, 2000Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company Related Articles:Anti-Drug Web Site Tracks Visitorshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6131.shtmlWhite House Drug Office Tracks Computer Visitorshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6117.shtml Drugs, TV and Propagandahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4326.shtmlPropaganda for Dollars http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread4317.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by dddd on June 22, 2000 at 17:20:50 PT
recipe
Now it's back to the cookbooks.I'm sure they already fired the guy who came up with that recipe......but not to worry,,,your tax dollars can hire the best culinary geniuses on earth,,,and I'm sure they can come up with a cookie,,,that will be so tasty,,you will not know you've eaten it.........dddd
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Comment #4 posted by dddd on June 22, 2000 at 17:10:24 PT
never mind
Ooops,,looks like we accidently broke a federal law........we're sorry,,,,never mind,,,,go on with your lives,,,business as usual,,,,we'll be careful not to let you catch us doing it again,,,,,sorry,,,,,,,never mind,,,,,everything's OK now,,,,,no biggie,,,,,we didnt know,,,,,,we wont let it happen again.......dont worry......it was no big deal.....we didnt know this was happening...it was an accidental oversight.....all we want to do is make things better....dont make a big deal out of it.......we will correct this FELONY crime as soon as we are done with damage control,and counterspin procedures.....never mind,,,,we're on top of it,,,,,,,,,...dddd
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Comment #3 posted by Dave in Florida on June 22, 2000 at 12:10:49 PT
Cookie anyone ?
These quys are way to persistant with trying to force a cookie on you. I say "just say no" to cookies.
http://www.redherring.com/mag/issue70/news-explained.html
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Comment #2 posted by Rainbow on June 22, 2000 at 12:00:26 PT
Trust?
Here the ONDCP has been sneaky again. Why should I believe this article that they have stopped? My experience tells me they just asked someone else to do the snooping. They will get the information but saying they have stopped is not believeable.Rainbow
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 22, 2000 at 11:34:26 PT
E-Mail News
Organization: Common Sense for Drug PolicyDate: Thu, 22 Jun 2000Re: Cookies, the Drug Czar's Office, and tracking of computer users who seek information on drug-related topics.Good Morning All,Some of you by now may already know about cookies and internet privacy, I'm sending along a couple of links that may prove interesting or useful.For a good rundown on cookies and privacy interests, this article from Red Herring magazine is great:http://www.redherring.com/mag/issue70/news-explained.htmlFor a look at what kind of information your web browser reveals about you, check this link: http://www.junkbusters.com/cgi-bin/privacyIt's to a company which sells an internet privacy product. I don't know how good their product is, but they do give a good rundown of what information your computer reveals to any server you contact when you a webpage.Remember: Don't take cookies from strangers.Thanks,DougDoug McVay, Projects CoordinatorCommon Sense for Drug Policy3220 N Street NW #141, Washington, DC 20007dmcvay csdp.org703-354-9050 -- fax 703-354-5695http://www.csdp.org/
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