The use of social media by the feds is here to stay, complete with privacy guidelines and best practices. Back in April, an OMB memo from Cass Sunstein noted, “To engage the public, federal agencies are expanding their use of social media and web-based interactive technologies.” And he’s right—federal entities have embraced the use of third-party websites as a way to connect with the public, and as part of the Open Government Directive. For example, agencies such as FEMA and the Department of Education have YouTube channels. The White House maintains a public Flickr stream. At White House.gov, citizens can “Stay Connected” via Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, My Space, Vimeo, You Tube, iTunes and LinkedIn. Personally, I am currently following the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), Federal Communications Commission, and White House Open Government Initiative on Twitter. I also regularly listen to the GAO podcasts, which are three- to five-minute audio digests of their longer reports.
Given the near-ubiquity of these technologies, the Office of Management and Budget's release last week of two new memos on the subject—one entitled “Guidance for Online Use of Web Measurement and Customization Technologies” and another entitled "Guidance for Agency Use of Third-Party Websites and Applications"—was a welcome and much needed development. The latter memo “applies to any Federal agency use of third-party websites or applications to engage with the public for the purpose of implementing the principles of the Open Government Directive,” stating that “[t]hese websites and applications offer new tools that will help people to connect to their government, promoting the goals of transparency, participation, and collaboration.” The former lifts a long-time ban of the use of cookies by government sites and addresses the issue of protecting individual privacy as it relates to the use of cookies.
Lifting the ban on the use of cookies means that visitors to federal sites can have a more customizable experience while still maintaining some level of identity protection. Some of the general requirements outlined in "Guidance for Agency Use of Third Party Websites and Applications" third-party websites include the following:
· Federal agencies should review any third-party website privacy policies and changes to that policy before using them to engage with the public.
· Agencies must alert users if an external link is leading to a third-party website, explaining to users that they are heading to a non-government site that may have a different privacy policy.
· When embedding third-party sites, the agency must “take necessary steps to disclose the third party’s involvement and describe the agency’s activities in its privacy policy[...]”
· An agency must apply appropriate branding to distinguish their activities from the non-government sites.
· If personal information is collected through the use of a third-party site, agencies will only collect the minimum amount of personal information necessary for proper performance.
The two memos are linked by their conclusion that the feds must ensure that the protection of citizens’ privacy is part of their agency’s site infrastructure. More broadly, the memos help to institutionalize and sanction the use of social media by federal agencies. By outlining and providing guidance, these memos show that the federal government is seriously considering the prominent role that social media websites play in the lives of citizens. The government's increasing commitment to making the user’s experience of a government website as seamless and user-friendly as that of a social media site is a vitally important goal because it is the only way that citizens will begin to engage with these websites on a large scale. As one piece of the larger Open Government Directive, these memos help to establish social media websites as an important part of the federal government's goal of better strategies for communication, participation and information dissemination. Now, citizens will have an even easier way to connect with federal agencies via the tools that they are already using, which will promote more frequent and open interactions.
Of course, the federal government isn’t the only level of government utilizing social media websites--more and more cities, states and counties have begun using third-party sites, as well. It is very common for cities to have social media hubs where citizens can choose how they want information from a menu of various third-party sites. For example, Chicago’s Mayor Daley has his own YouTube channel and has already posted a video response to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v. Chicago about Chicago’s handgun ban. The state of Utah has been praised for its use of social media and uses several Facebook pages to communicate with constituents. As these sites grow in use and importance, the local government entities may find it difficult to craft their own guidelines with respect to use and privacy. The new Office of Management and Budget's memos may, however, provide them a good start. Local entities will have to address the same sorts of questions going forward and therefore would do well to gauge the reactions of the general public and privacy advocates to these latest OMB memos.
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