GOVERNMENT DRUG COPS GET INTO CYBER-STALKING

They're called "cookies," little electronic lures planted on Web
sites. Businesses stick them there as a way of gaining information for
marketing purposes, and there is quite a lot that can be learned about
you if you bite.

Someone can find out who you are and everywhere you travel on the
Internet. If you buy books on-line, your reading habits are known. So
also are your tastes in music, your medical concerns and your
political inclinations.

All of this data, easily cross-filed using technology and then sold,
is invaluable for marketing purposes. (Someone who visits a Website
about World War II, for example, may be a good prospect to buy Nazi
memorabilia.)

The privacy concerns about putting all of this information in the
hands of merchandisers are serious enough. But what if the Internet
snoop is the government, especially a government law enforcement agency.

It was learned a couple of weeks ago that the Drug Enforcement Agency
was using "cookies" to find out who was visiting the White House Drug
Office Website. The official explanation was that this would enable
the DEA to send anti-drug messages to those people.

Whether one believes that explanation or not (we're not sure we do),
the implications of the government building a database about the
habits and interests of its citizens are scary. A parent or a teacher
looking for material to discourage kids from using drugs shouldn't
have to worry about being cyber-stalked by federal drug cops.