OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

M E M O R A N D U M





DATE:	April 10, 2001

TO:		Chairman

FROM:	Inspector General

SUBJECT:	Report on Internet Privacy and Web Cookies

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has completed a Special Review of Internet Privacy and 
Web Cookies.  A copy of our Special Review Report, entitled "Special Review of Internet 
Privacy and Web Cookies" is attached.  This review was required by Section 646 of the "Treasury 
and General Government Act, 2001" (the Act).  Section 646 of the Act states that "Not later than 
60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of each department or 
agency shall submit to Congress a report that discloses any activity of the applicable department 
or agency relating to-

(1) the collection or review of singular data, or the creation of aggregate lists that 
include personally identifiable information, about individuals who access any 
Internet site of the department or agency; and

(2) entering into agreements with third parties, including other government agencies, 
to collect, review, or obtain aggregate lists or singular data containing personally 
identifiable information relating to any individual's access or viewing habits."

Following passage of this legislation, representatives of the Department of Defense Office of 
Inspector General (DOD IG) met with congressional staff to obtain an understanding of the intent 
of Section 646 and to discuss expectations regarding the parameters of the review and individual 
reports.  Based on these discussions, the DOD IG prepared and distributed a list of agreed upon 
questions relating to Internet Privacy and Web Cookies.  A listing of the agreed upon questions is 
included as Appendix 1 to our Special Review Report.

The objectives of this Special Review were to evaluate Commission practices related to Internet 
Privacy and Web Cookies and to provide a report to Congress on these practices.  Specific 
objectives of the review were to examine: 1) the purpose and use of cookies on FCC web pages, 
2) the use of other Internet information collection devices, such as web bugs, 3) what categories 
of information are collected on the FCC web site, 4) what personal information is collected when 
people e-mail or submit questions to the agency, including how this information is protected, and 
5) the distribution of personally identifiable information to any party outside of government for 
any purpose.  The scope of our review was limited to obtaining answers to the five questions that 
resulted from the discussions between the DOD IG and the congressional staff and performing 
limited testing to verify the accuracy of Commission responses.

In a response to the draft report, the Chief Information Officer (CIO) stated that "the report 
provides a comprehensive response to the questions asked during your review."  The CIO 
suggested some minor edits, all of which we have incorporated into our report.  We have included 
a copy of the response in its entirety as Appendix 2 to this report.

If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Bennett, Assistant Inspector General for 
Audits, at (202) 418-0477. 





H. Walker Feaster III

Attachment

cc:	Chief of Staff
	Managing Director
	Director, Office of Media Relations
	Chief Information Officer
	AMD-PERM