As a result of the Open Government dialogue the administration has conducted over the past few months, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has opened a new internet based discussion on the administration’s policy regarding the federal government’s use of web-tracking technologies.  On previous government blog discussions of different topics the cookie policy was of continuous interest sparking this separate effort.

The history of government web-tracking policies stretches out over the past decade.  In June 2000, the Clinton OMB reacted to privacy concerns by prohibiting persistent cookies and other such tools unless there is a compelling need.  However, this has impaired the government’s ability to improve their websites through enhanced website analytics.  Therefore, the government is opening a public debate to figure out the best way to revise the existing policies to improve customer service.

So far, OMB is considering a three-tiered system:

• 1st - Single-session technologies, which track users over a single session and do not maintain tracking data over multiple sessions or visits;
• 2nd - Multi-session technologies for use in analytics, which track users over multiple sessions purely to gather data to analyze web traffic statistics; and
• 3rd - Multi-session technologies for use as persistent identifiers, which track users over multiple visits with the intent of remembering data, settings, or preferences unique to that visitor for purposes beyond what is needed for web analytics.

You can let the government know your thoughts by email to oira_submission@omb.eop.gov.  Alternatively, you can engage in the blog discussion here.  All comments should be submitted by August 10.

Image from the MuppetWikia.