The Federal Government’s Latest Takeover: Your Desktop?
Glenn Beck reported on his Fox News television show July 31 that a disclaimer on the website for the federal government’s “Cash for Clunkers” program technically transfers ownership of the computer accessing the site to the federal government while connected to www.cars.gov. He warns viewers not to access the site at home, because the warning reads “This application provides access to the DoT CARS system. When logged on to the CARS system, your computer is considered a Federal computer system and is the property of the U.S. Government.”
This week, the federal government announced that is reviewing the federal policy of banning cookies from government websites. Vivek Kundra, federal CIO, and Michael Fitzpatrick of the OMB wrote in a blog post dated July 24 that the policy review is intended to improve customer service by allowing agencies to analyze how people use their sites and to remember visitors’ “data, settings or preferences.” The government’s use of cookies is similar to the creation of personalized “shopping cart” services that have won wide public acceptance in the private sector.
A cookie is a simple piece of code containing bits of information like user preferences, shopping cart contents, or other data used by websites.It is sent as an HTTP header by a web server to a web browser and then sent back unchanged by the browser each time it accesses that server. A cookie can be used for authenticating and remembering specific information about users.
Privacy advocates like EFF, Electronic Privacy Information Center and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EPIC), and the Center for Democracy and Technology, have said that the time has come to expand privacy safeguards to web tracking technologies. “Our primary concern is that the [Federal Government] has failed to protect the privacy rights of U.S. citizens,” said EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg. Advocates are troubled by the notion that the government should not be subjected to stricter privacy standards than private industry, as services provided by the government are available by right to all citizens, and sites like cars.gov are the only way to obtain certain services, while there are a plethora of options in the online shopping world.
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Laugh out loud. This is funny. I enjoy Glenn Beck as much as the next guy, and I have no doubt that the policy statement (found by clicking at the bottom of the cars.gov page under Policies) will provide an exceptional means for attorneys to generate revenue. Lawyers from both sides of the argument will charge thousands to millions of dollars to establish the legitimacey of some poorly written policy.
Working in government contracting, I have seen more than my fair share of poorly written policies, and have seen them rewritten, sometimes with little improvement. The crux of the matter is that the Government, like any organization, has a vested interest in protecting their infrastructure. With that in mind, the job of the IT security team becomes very challenging as the reality of a connected world comes into play. Where does “my network” end? If your computer is talking to mine…you are on my network! What should I have the POTENTIAL capability to influence to protect my infrastructure and information?
Given these questions, it is no wonder that DOT has put in place a policy such as this. Does that mean that …
- The policy should not be more reflective of individual privacy concerns? YES
- That there should be grave concerns that “Big Brother” is trying to get into your computer? NO (If you haven’t noticed …Uncle Sam and the dedicated people who are supporting him have their hands full with the bad guys and the users in their organizations.)
- That you should exercise reasonable care with ANY website, governmental, organizational or otherwise to protect your own data? ABSOLUTELY
Glenn, thanks for a good laugh and for the soapbox for me to highlight the intrinsic dangers to our privacy…among the least of which is the Government, in this instance.