Erase your Cookies

If any of you clicked through to the NSA web page I linked to the other day, or if you have gone to the NSA web page on your own, erase your cookies immediately. Apparently, their web site has been placing persistent "cookies" on visitors' computers that can track your computer use through the year 2035.

DEC. 29 12:11 A.M. ET The National Security Agency's Internet site has been placing files on visitors' computers that can track their Web surfing activity despite strict federal rules banning most of them.

These files, known as "cookies," disappeared after a privacy activist complained and The Associated Press made inquiries this week, and agency officials acknowledged Wednesday they had made a mistake. Nonetheless, the issue raises questions about privacy at a spy agency already on the defensive amid reports of a secretive eavesdropping program in the United States.

A hat tip to Crooks and Liars.

By the way, it's probably a good idea to erase your cookies regularly anyway. Who wants all these people snooping at your web usage. If you don't know how to erase cookies, look it up in your browser's "help" feature.