White House Cookies Update

So turns out that we don’t yet have a draft cookie policy to react to, but today we have a more formal request for comment that lays out the framework OMB is looking at and guidance on the more specific input OMB is seeking.   See  Open Government Blog.

Here are the details:

Under the framework we’re looking at, any Federal agency using web tracking technologies on a Federal Government website would be subject to basic principles governing the use of such technologies and would be required to:

• Adhere to all existing laws and policies (including those designed to protect privacy) governing the collection, use, retention, and safeguarding of any data gathered from users;
• Post clear and conspicuous notice on the website of the use of web tracking technologies;
• Provide a clear and understandable means for a user to opt-out of being tracked; and
• Not discriminate against those users who decide to opt-out, in terms of their access to information.

• 1^st – Single-session technologies, which track users over a single session and do not maintain tracking data over multiple sessions or visits;
• 2^nd – Multi-session technologies for use in analytics, which track users over multiple sessions purely to gather data to analyze web traffic statistics; and
• 3^rd – 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.

• The basic principles governing the use of such technologies;
• The appropriate tiers;
• The acceptable use and restrictions of each tier;
• The degree of clear and conspicuous notice on each website that web tracking technologies are being used;
• The applicability and scope of such a framework on Federal agency use of third-party applications or websites;
• The choice between an opt-in versus opt-out approach for users;
• Unintended or non-obvious privacy implications; and
• Any other general comments with respect to this issue.

The White House is hosting a call we are joining later today with stakeholders to discuss this further, so we will update if there is anything more to report.