Feds want to put cookies on your PC

Posted by Robert Siciliano on August 25th, 2009

Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger

Fox News reports that the Office of Management and Budget is considering reversing a nine year ban on using "cookies" to track users' preferences and interests on federal websites. The shift in policy is being billed as a way for government to enter the 21st century and for federal agencies to use the same technology utilized on news sites, retail sites and social media networks.

"Without explaining this reversal of policy, the OMB is seeking to allow the mass collection of personal information of every user of a federal government website," said Michael Macleod-Ball, acting director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative office. "Until OMB answers the multitude of questions surrounding this policy shift, we will continue to raise our strenuous objections."

A cookie is a small piece of text or code that is stored on your computer in order to track data. Cookies contains bits of information such as user preferences, shopping cart contents and sometimes user names and passwords. Cookies allow your web browser to communicate with a website. Cookies are not the same as spyware or viruses, although they are related. Many anti-spyware products will detect cookies from certain sites, but while cookies have the potential to be malicious, most are not.

The government tracks criminals using specially developed spyware that gathers a wide range of information, including IP and MAC addresses, operating systems, Internet browsers, open ports, running programs, user names, and recently visited URLs. This scares privacy advocates, for good reason.

But cookies are generally not invasive. They are typically used to produce usage statistics within a single site, or to produce anonymous user profiles across multiple sites, in order to determine which advertisements would be most relevant. Many websites become unusable if your browser does not accept cookies. Social networking sites are particularly dependent on cookies.

Federal government agencies have banned cookies in their own sites since 2000 in response to demands from privacy advocates. Some claim that the proposal to reverse the ban comes in response to Google's recent lobbying efforts. Whitehouse.gov posts YouTube videos that contain Google's third party cookies. The entire issue requires a bit more transparency for all those involved.

Advertisers have long known that cookies are useful for customizing the user experience. The government seems interested in taking advantage of this benefit as well. If that is the real motivation, it's great. But privacy advocates aren't happy, since the government tends to take a mile when given an inch.

There are a few fundamental ways to keep yourself secure. Make sure that your Internet security software is updated, and install spyware removal software if it isn't included in your basic security suite. Lock down your wireless connection. Use strong passwords that include upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers, and never share them. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. In most cases, this prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. Download CCleaner, a free system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool that removes unused files including cookies from your system, which frees up disk space and allows Windows to run faster. It also cleans traces of your online activities. And invest in identity theft protection. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses a proposal to allow the use of cookies on federal websites on Fox News, and again on Breitbart.tv.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5eoLzazsb0[/youtube]

Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com , an identity theft expert, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 companies and startups as an advisor on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. Siciliano's thoughts and advice on all these matters appear often in both the televised and print news media including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of security training as a member of the American Society of Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on High Alert; How to take control of your personal security and prevent fraud. He's also partnered with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness about the growing threat of identity theft and to provide tips on how you can protect yourself.