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NSA Installed 30-Year Tracking Cookies

NEW YORK — In what security officials call a “mistake” and privacy advocates call “atrocious,” the National Security Agency's Internet site has been installing cookies on visitors’ computers that could track browser activity for nearly 30 years.

Federal legislation enacted in 2003 clearly bans the use of hidden cookies on federal website unless the government can prove a “persistent need.”

Officials at the NSA quickly removed the cookies from the site after several privacy groups reported them to The Associated Press earlier this week. The NSA has claimed the cookies were installed by accident after a software upgrade, which allegedly used a program pre-installed with tracking software.

“After being tipped to the issue, we immediately disabled the cookies,” NSA spokeman Don Weber said on Dec. 28.

Daniel Brandt, the man who reported the find to AP, said the cookies installed on his computer after visiting the NSA’s site were not set to expire until 2035.

“It’s illegal,” Brandt said.

Since 2003, the White House's Office of Management and Budget has required a senior White House official to clear any government site from using cookies that are not temporary.

The NSA received no such clearance.

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