Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
Fox News reports that the Office management and budget planning overturn a ban nine years on the use of "cookies" to track the preferences and interests of users on federal sites. The policy change is billed as a way for the government to enter the 21st century and for federal agencies to use the same technology used 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 data for each user of a federal government Web site," said Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director Washington legislative Office of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Until OMB answers the multitude of questions surrounding this policy change, we will continue to raise our strong objections."
A cookie is a small piece of text or code that is stored on your computer to track data. Cookies contain information such as user preferences, shopping cart contents and sometimes user names and passwords. Cookies enable your Web browser to communicate with a Web site. 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 follows the criminals using the specially developed spyware that gathers a wide range of information, including IP and MAC addresses programs, operating systems, Internet browsers, open ports, running, usernames and recently visited URLs. This scares defenders of privacy, for good reason.
But cookies are usually not invasive. They are generally used to produce usage statistics in a single site, or to produce anonymous user profiles across multiple sites to determine which advertisements would be most relevant. Many websites become unusable if your browser does not accept cookies. Social networks are particularly dependent on cookies.
federal government agencies have banned the cookies in their own sites since 2000 in response to requests from advocates of privacy. Some claim that the proposal to overturn the ban comes in response to recent lobbying efforts of Google. Whitehouse.gov published YouTube videos that contain third-party cookies from Google. The whole question requires a bit more transparency for all stakeholders.
Advertisers have long known that cookies are useful for customizing the user experience. The government seems interested in taking advantage of this benefit also. If this is the real motivation, it is high. But defenders of privacy are not happy because the government tends to take a mile when given an inch.
There are a few basic ways to keep you safe. Make sure your Internet security software is updated, and install spyware removal software if it is not in your database security suite. Lock your wireless connection. Use passwords that include uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers, and do not 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 optimization tool system, privacy and cleaning that removes unused files including cookies from your system, freeing disk space and allows Windows to run faster. It also cleans traces of your online activities. And invest in identity theft protection. 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 Web sites on Fox News, and again on Breitbart.tv.
Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, an expert on identity theft, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 and start-up companies as a consultant on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. the thoughts and advice of Siciliano on all these issues often appear in both television and print media news, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of safety training as a member of the American Society for Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on high alert; How to take control of your personal safety and to prevent fraud . He also established a partnership with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness of the growing threat of identity theft and provide tips on how you can protect yourself.