The National Security Agency has been inserting files known as cookies onto the computers of individuals who visit the NSA Web site, a violation of federal rules meant to protect privacy.
The cookies, which can be used to track visitors' online activities, vanished this week following complaints from a privacy activist and inquiries from The Associated Press. On Wednesday, NSA officials admitted using the cookies, but said that the agency had made a mistake.
The NSA had given their cookies an expiration date of 2035, a shelf life much longer than the average cookie. Don Weber, an NSA spokesperson, told the AP that the cookies were the result of a recent software upgrade. "After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the cookies," he said.
If You Give a Spy a Cookie
Cookies are commonly used tracking devices that enable Web surfers to access sites without having to enter their user names and passwords each time they visit. The files allow advertisers to measure the ebb and flow of Internet traffic or monitor demographic information, and also provide retailers with details that make personalized Web pages possible -- think of Amazon.com's recommendations page.
Some cookies, known as persistent cookies, are saved on the computer's hard drive until reaching an expiration date or until deleted by the user. The NSA used these kinds of cookies, which can track online behavior and report preferences for Web sites.
Some privacy experts said they believe the cookies were an oversight on the part of the NSA's I.T. department and that the situation has been amplified by recent revelations that the agency engaged in domestic wire tapping without first obtaining warrants.
What is of concern, said Richard Purcell, CEO of Corporate Privacy Group and former chief privacy officer at Microsoft  , is the perception that the agency has little understanding of cookies and how to use them.
"It seems that they had no idea of how to use cookies and that's a little scary for what it indicates about their sophisticated understanding of their own Web site," Purcell said. "It seems very low. If this is as good as they are in Web surveillance, then their other surveillance can't be very good. And, it's against the rules."
Who's Watching Whom?
In the Clinton administration, law professor Peter Swire served as Chief Counselor for Privacy in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and provided needed guidance on privacy-related policy, according to Purcell. The Bush administration chose not to continue Swire's position.
In 2003, the OMB banned federal agencies from using persistent cookies without a "compelling need." But since Swire's departure, there has been "no single person whose job it is to look after the privacy practices of the federal government at all," Purcell said.
"There isn't a whole lot of government self-regulation over privacy," Purcell said. "There are some really, really good people -- the Department of Homeland Security and Commerce are the best -- but other than that there's not much."
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