LAWMAKERS HAVE NET PRIVACY CONCERNS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican lawmakers denounced the White House's
drug policy office Thursday for using software to track computer users
viewing its anti-drug advertising, a practice contrary to the Clinton
administration's own privacy guidelines.

``The government should not be in the business of cybersnooping,''
said House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas. ``These sites ought to
be an essential link for citizens who want to become more involved in
our government. It is an outrage when this vital trust is violated by
the lack of concern for personal privacy.''

The White House ordered its Office of National Drug Control Policy
Wednesday to stop using ``cookies,'' small software files often placed
on computers without a person's knowledge. Cookies can be used to
track a person's movement on the Web and collect personal data.

The drug policy office ordered contractors to stop using the cookies
as soon as possible, said Don Maple, who helps run the office's media
campaign.

``We had obviously underestimated the administration's sensitivity to
the use of this technique,'' he added.

Last week, Armey, along with Reps. Bill Tauzin, R-La., and Bob
Goodlatte, R-Va., wrote the White House requesting all federal Web
sites be checked for compliance with Internet privacy standards
proposed for business by the Federal Trade Commission.

``A project with links and tracking to proprietary Web sites and
business has vast privacy implications with which Congress should be
consulted,'' Tauzin said in a letter to Barry R. McCaffrey, head of
the drug policy office.

Various Web sites displayed the anti-drug ads, which also appeared on
Internet search engines when users typed in key words related to
drugs. Users clicking on the ads were taken to a drug policy office
site called ``Freevibe'' which targeted young people. Upon entering
the site, a cookie was placed on users' computers.

The tracking totaled the number of people clicking on ads, which ads
they clicked on and what pages they viewed on the Freevibe site, Maple
said.

For the campaign, reported by Scripps Howard News Service this week,
McCaffrey's office used the firm Ogilvy & Mather, which in turn
contracted with DoubleClick, the nation's largest Internet ad agency.

DoubleClick spokesman Josh Isay said the tracking technology wasn't
used to create profiles of Web users.

``It's totally anonymous,'' he said. ``It's not shared with anyone
else.''

However, some critics contend there is no such thing as total
anonymity with cookies.

Ari Schwartz, a policy analyst for the Washington-based consumer
advocacy Center for Democracy and Technology, said even the most
innocuous Web tracking contains some minimal identifying
information.

``We're talking about tracking people on drug sites. It's not too far
of a step to assume a law enforcement agency could come asking for
this information and track down individuals,'' he said.

Isay said he didn't know if other government agencies had contracted
his company for similar services.

New York-based DoubleClick handles ads on about 1,500 Web sites and
counts the traffic. Private lawsuits and a complaint filed with the
FTC accuse the company of cross-referencing its information on Web
users with the vast database of a direct-mail company to target
potential consumers.

In May 1998, President Clinton ordered federal agencies to ensure that
their Web sites comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 and to begin
privacy reviews.

The General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of Congress, plans to
release a study in October of whether government Web sites have
prominent privacy policies that conform to the administration's guidelines.