Joseph Marks

The White House does not share information about visitors to its Web and mobile tools outside of the federal government, either for commercial or political purposes, according to the draft of an updated privacy policy.

The White House may share some visitor information with other federal agencies in response to law enforcement requests or to protect its online security, the policy said. The White House may also share information requests that are under an agency’s jurisdiction “for the limited purpose of addressing your request for assistance.” The draft policy will go into effect on April 18.

Legislation approved by the House Oversight Committee would require agency chief information officers to vouch to Congress for the security of any new government websites that gather citizens' personal information.

Rep Kerry Bentivolio (R-MI), introduced the legislation in December in the wake of reports that HealthCare.gov, the Obama Administration’s troubled online federal health insurance marketplace could have exposed insurance seekers’ personal information to hackers. During committee discussion, members focused on private sector data breaches at Target and other retailers.

There have been no successful hacks against HealthCare.gov and that the system adheres to government standards for information security, the Health and Human Services Department has said.

“We have a duty to protect our constituents, especially if they are being directed by our offices to use federal websites that require their personal information,” Bentivolio said. “If Americans cannot trust federal websites they will be wary of going on these websites and finding the information and services they need.”

The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed interest in a House-passed bill to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act, including by mandating a single online portal for all government FOIA requests.

Judiciary committee staff members are reviewing the bill that the House passed unanimously in February, said Sen Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Sen Grassley and Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) both expressed optimism the committee would take up the bill during a hearing focused on “Reinvigorating FOIA for the Digital Age.”

The FOIA Oversight and Implementation Act would also require that the Office of Government Information Services, which was established in 2007 as something of a FOIA ombudsman, report directly to Congress rather than passing its reports and recommendations through the White House’s Office of Management and Budget first.

[March 11]