NSA Caught With The Cookies

zardo writes "The associated press is reporting that the NSA is putting cookies on visiting computers. Apparently it is unlawful for the government to put anything but a session cookie out unless it's expressed in the site's privacy policy." From the article: "Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday that the cookie use resulted from a recent software upgrade. Normally, the site uses temporary, permissible cookies that are automatically deleted when users close their Web browsers, he said, but the software in use shipped with persistent cookies already on. ... In a 2003 memo, the White House's Office of Management and Budget prohibits federal agencies from using persistent cookies _ those that aren't automatically deleted right away _ unless there is a 'compelling need.' A senior official must sign off on any such use, and an agency that uses them must disclose and detail their use in its privacy policy."

Comments

Re:I call shenanigans.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do people keep mentioning terrorists? Just because Bush wraps himself in the flag and spouts anti-terrorist statements does not mean that the NSA is just about monitoring terrorists. He lied about Iraq WMD. He lied about not having a traitor in the white house. He lied when he said that once he know that he would at least fire the person (so far only one quit, and there are more to come). He lied about PATRIOT ACT and needing warrents. Now, he says that this is about nothing but terrorists and the NSA is caught putting cookies on systems. Hummmmm. Amazing at how slow we are.

Re:I call shenanigans.

[ackthpt]

So you think the top trained NSA agents are wasting their time making websites and doing tech support? Its their website, I doubt they spent much time on it or use it much, they have better things to do than waste time with their public website. It doesnt really seem like you have a grasp on how company IT depts work.

Well, let's be insulting, shall we?

Doesn't sound like you've got an inkling of how NSA works outside what you read in editorial cartoons by Pat Oliphant. There are clear procedures and more double checking than you can shake a stick at and you know bloody well they've got their network secure. These are the people who released a secure Linux, fer chrissakes.

Mod Parent Up?

[jevvim]

This is completely a non issue unless someone can proove that the NSA went to the trouble to track the cookies outside of their website.

My problem isn't that they broke their own rules on the use of cookies, but that they broke their own rules. This is an Administration which has been dogged recently with allegations of potentially illegal behavior, and this is yet another sample of it. The more we let the Administration know that discovered lapses - however minor - will be reported, the more I hope they will reconsider pushing the boundaries.

Once again it prooves the left has gone completely bonkers.

I'd say it's more a statement that the current Administration has problems following its own rules - but, then, most Administrations run into that problem. Our government is designed with checks and balances, and practically everyone tries to get away with stuff. It's not that either side has gone bonkers, it's just that the side in power gets the criticism levelled on it. If they can't handle it, then they shouldn't have (a) run for office, (b) accepted the appointment, or (c) taken a government job.

Re:Mod Parent Up?

[Tim Doran]

Once again it prooves the left has gone completely bonkers.

Heck, yeah, it's the *left* with the problem. All that (ongoing) torture, secret CIA prisons around the globe, American citizens being held indefinitely without charge or due process, manipulated intelligence leading into a disastrous war, the incompetent handling of the war itself, the president ordering the NSA to spy on American citizens on American soil... yep, the problem here is clearly the *left*, which has gone "bonkers".

Better hurry, Ann Coulter is on the Factor in ten minutes! There's just enough time to guzzle another glass of kool-aid before it starts!

I'd say it's more a statement that the current Administration has problems following its own rules - but, then, most Administrations run into that problem.

True, but I think we're beyond the point at which the Bush administration can be fairly compared with previous administrations. "Everybody does it" is no excuse when a president freely admits to violating the law and the forth amendment. And with the possible exception of Iran-Contra, I can't think of an administration that has so brazenly broken so many fundamental rules.

I support President Bush and the NSA

[Smarty2120]

In this new global war on terrorism, it is vital that the government have the cookies it needs to track and catch terrorists. Remember the attacks on 9/11 that took the lives of nearly 3000 americans. You're either with us or with the terrorists. Cookies will allow is to monitor for WMDs in rogue states around the globe. The hijackers on 9/11 might have been stopped by the use of cookies, but we will never know. Stay the course, support government cookies. God bless America and nowhere else.

Talking points: Because evidence has no place in a political debate