Federal Web sites don't follow privacy guidelines

DAILY BRIEFING

Federal Web sites don't follow privacy guidelines

Most federal World Wide Web sites do not follow the privacy guidelines recommended by the Federal Trade Commission for private businesses, according to a report in today's New York Times.

In June, the FTC criticized businesses that collect information from visitors to their Web sites--especially children--and then use or sell the information without informing the people who provided it. The FTC took businesses to task for failing to post privacy guidelines on their sites and recommended Congress pass a law requiring sites to get permission from a parent before collecting information from children under 13.

But the Times found that the "White House for Kids" site does not ask children to get their parents' permission before sending such information as their name, age, e-mail address, and the name of the school they attend. Nor does it provide any notice about how information collected from adults (such as e-mail addresses that are logged when visitors send messages to the White House through the site) will be used, as the FTC also recommended.

Of the 70 federal agency sites linked to the White House site, only 12--or 17 percent--had posted privacy guidelines as of last Friday, the paper reported. That's only slightly better than the 14 percent of commercial sites that posted such guidelines.

Ira Magaziner, President Clinton's advisor on Internet issues, said agencies are following principles for collecting personal information laid out in the Privacy Act. The Office of Management and Budget is drafting privacy guidelines for agencies.