of chaos and middlemen of various stripes. In a chapter entitled “Freedom from Speech”, hewarns that computers will increasingly allow us to filter out opposing viewpoints that disruptour worldviews, and that such filtering violates the premises of democracy. Taking theseconcerns into account, Shapiro is able to make reasonable suggestions for progress in thenetworked age. His assertions and conclusions are based quite sensibly on what he calls the“code features” of the Net: those elements that are inherent in networked systems, thecapabilities that must be considered in any rational discussion of the Net. By beginning thebook with a discussion of these code features, he is able to pull his arguments together withclarity and reason.

This is a good book, valuable not for breaking new ground but for deftly synthesizingmany of the concerns and questions facing a society already changed by the advent ofpervasive digital networks. The book is perhaps best suited to the public library, but also haspotential as a classroom text for media studies courses. Shapiro gives much attention to newsand information mediation (by journalists, editors, companies, citizens, stock brokers, etc.);most consumers of information would benefit from his discussion of the advantages anddisadvantages of such mediation. It should be considered optional for advanced academiclibraries, but will be a useful purchase for most undergraduate libraries.

Ken IrwinReference/Electronic Resources Librarian,

Thomas Library, Wittenberg University,P.O. Box 7207, Springfield, OH 45501-7207

E-mail address:kirwin@wittenberg.eduPII: S0740-624X(00)00069-1

Federal Agencies’ Fair Information PracticesU.S. General Accounting Office GAO/AIMD-00-296R , September 2000, 26 pp.^http://www.gao.gov/new.items/ai00296r.pdf&

Internet Privacy: Agencies’ Efforts to Implement OMB’s Privacy PolicyU.S. General Accounting Office GAO/GGD-00-191, September 2000, 72 pp.^http://www.gao./new.items/gg00191.pef&

Two recent reports by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO),Federal Agencies’ FairInformation PracticesandInternet Privacy: Agencies’ Efforts to Implement OMB’s PrivacyPolicyare now available online in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format at the GAO’s Web site and areworth a look for those interested in Internet privacy issues for visitors to federal governmentWeb sites.

The brief reportFederal Agencies’ Fair Information Practicesprovides results of a study

67Book Reviews / Government Information Quarterly 18 (2001) 63–73

of federal agency Web sites conducted by the GAO during July 2000. Sites were evaluatedaccording to the Federal Trade Commission’s “four fair information principles” ofnotice,choice, access, andsecuritywhich are used to evaluate commercial Web sites. The principlesinclude Internet users receivingnoticeor disclosure of the Web site’s information practices,choicein how information collected about them is used,accessto see and dispute the data,and datasecurity. The study also looked at use of cookies sent to Web users’ computers totrack their browsing through an agency’s site and identify them on subsequent visits.FedWorld (www.fedworld.gov) homepage is shown in Enclosure III, Figure 6 as a federalagency site using cookies and posting privacy, security, cookie notices, and “cookie warn-ings.”

The study covered 32 “high-impact” federal agency sites such as the IRS (www.irs.ustreas.gov), State Department Consular Bureau (travel.state.gov), Census Bureau (www.census.gov), the FTC’s own site at their request (www.ftc.gov), and 32 other federal Websites randomly selected. FedWorld was a random sample, as was the State Department’sInternational Information Programs (www.usia.gov) and the National Agricultural Library(www.nalusda.gov).

All of the sites surveyed were found to collect personal information from visitors throughsources such as Web-based forms. Overall percentages are given for agency sites whichposted privacy notices (85%), and which were considered to have met the FTC’s fairinformation practices criteria for notice (69%), choice (45%), access (17%), and security(23%). Percentages for sites disclosing that theymayallow (22%) and ordid allow (14%) theuse of third-party cookies are noted, and a useful technical overview of cookies appears inEnclosure IV, “How Cookies are Made.”

This report’s application of the FTC fair information principles standards to agency Websites was criticized by the Office of Management and Budget since federal agencies had notbeen directed to follow FTC fair information principles. Agencies must comply with thePrivacy Act, which does not apply to commercial Web sites, and follow OMB directives.However the GAO addresses this by providing a second and longer report on privacypractices at agency Web sites, “Internet Privacy: Agencies’ Efforts to Implement OMB’sPrivacy Policy.” In this report, the focus is on federal agency Web site compliance with thePrivacy Act and OMB directives on privacy for Web users.

Conducted in April 2000, this study evaluated 70 executive branch Web sites including theWhite House (www.whitehouse.gov). The resulting report provides some statistics on Website privacy practices for the 70 sites overall, finding that while 67 federal Web sites collectedvisitor information from e-mail and online Web forms, only 5 discussed how long theinformation would be kept and 23 stated they would share information with third parties.Additional separate statistics are also given for the 31 “high impact” agencies in the survey,with findings that while 28 “high impact” agencies received visitor information through atotal of 101 Web online forms, only 10 agencies linked their privacy policies fromall Webforms.

Written agency privacy policies, types of information collected, and use of cookies at 11of 70 agency Web sites are also discussed in this report, and explanatory sections offer usefulinformation such as OMB’s suggested language regarding e-mail, and sample language fromFTC’s privacy policy provided on page 14. Researchers can also find the legal background

68 Book Reviews / Government Information Quarterly 18 (2001) 63–73

on Internet privacy in Appendix IV, “Applicable Laws and Implementing Guidance forProtecting Personal Information.” Together, these two reports on federal agency Internetprivacy practices from the Government Accounting Office are worthwhile reading for policymakers and others interested in keeping abreast of Internet privacy issues in federal gov-ernment.

Lorri MonElectronic Government Information Services Librarian,

the University of Illinois at Chicago,the Main Library (M/C 234), 801 South Morgan,

Chicago, Illinois 60607E-mail address:lmon@uic.edu.

PII: S0740-624X(00)00070-8

Evaluation of Presidential Candidates WebsitesReviewer’s note: When I began this review so many months ago, there were many morecandidates in the presidential race with websites reflecting a broad range of technologiesand good and bad web design. Over the season, the field has been whittled downconsiderably. As we approach the final weeks of the campaign, there remain only twoserious contenders, as well as two who enjoy a lesser chance for the office. What followsbelow are some critical evaluations of the candidate’s websites as they stood earlier inthe campaign season.

Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and politics – the campaign season is here and in full swing.Bill Bradley and Al Gore have debated at Dartmouth and with the notable exception ofGeorge W. Bush, so have the republican candidates. Natural selection has also taken its tollon presidential hopefuls. Lamar Alexander, Dan Quail and Elizabeth Dole have all droppedout. In this early stage of the race, the remaining candidates are scrambling to make theirmessages heard and to differentiate themselves from others in the pack. Things are happeningdaily in every campaign: Speeches are made, money is being raised and “the message” isbeing pushed out to the people. More this year than in previous years, candidates areembracing the web as a viable interactive communication medium that allows a hugeaudience to gather information about the candidate. The web also allows the candidates theability to spin their message in a way that might not be possible in other mediums.

Tina Kelly’s recent article in the New York Times calls the candidates web site “an annexopen any hour of the day or night” and “a whistle stop or fire side chat room” that allows thecandidate to present themselves as just plain folks. Kelly is so right. Where else couldcandidates put their baby pictures or streaming video of war footage or set aside a place toshow you just how important their spouse is? And what better avenue is there to allow peopleto see the full text of speeches, find where the candidate will be on a given date and, ofcourse, to raise money. This year candidates are using the Internet more effectively than theyhave in the past. No longer are these sites just a jazzed up version of the campaign brochure.

69Book Reviews / Government Information Quarterly 18 (2001) 63–73