WHITE HOUSE ADMITS POSSIBLE VIOLATIONS

The White House conceded Wednesday that it may have violated federal
privacy guidelines when it ordered its Office of National Drug Control
Policy to stop using a software device that tracks computer users who view
the government's anti-drug advertisements on the Internet.

To monitor traffic on its Internet sites for children and their parents,
the White House's drug policy office has employed computer files known as
``cookies,'' which are placed in computers electronically -- usually
without the knowledge of users -- to monitor their Internet travels.

But White House officials said that they saw a distinction between
companies tracking customers and the government doing similar monitoring.