Does Bush Web Site Snoop?

Privacy advocate says Bush campaign site violates own policy with cookie overdose.

A redesigned Web site unveiled Wednesday by Texas Gov. George W. Bush may violate his campaign's privacy protection policy, a privacy expert says.

"Everywhere I clicked there was a cookie," says Deborah Pierce of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, referring to small text files used to store personal information about Web surfers.

In its privacy policy, Web site of the Bush campaign says it will only collect information about visitors when they stop in one of four specific areas. In reality, the site collects such information with every click of the mouse, Pierce says.

"They try to set a cookie even before you read the privacy policy," says Pierce, an attorney at the non-partisan group, which advocates for increased privacy protection.

A Bush spokesperson would not confirm the findings, first noted by Democrat Al Gore's campaign, but emphasized the Bush organization's commitment to personal privacy.

"The policy absolutely stands, said Bush spokesperson Tucker Eskew. "If it happened, it was a vendor error and is being corrected."

Pierce stresses that there is nothing sinister about the cookies, but says the campaign should be upfront about how much information it collects from visitors.

Trawling Online for Voters

The Bush campaign hopes to create a new kind of politics on the Internet.

"We very deliberately sought to examine high-traffic, information-intensive sites that were visually appealing," Eskew says. "That doesn't usually refer to political sites."

In its haste to go online, however, the campaign left off a section for young people and many Spanish-language translations.

Eskew says those problems will be soon resolved.

The campaign rolled out a 30-second television commercial Wednesday designed to draw people to the site, which features an Internet radio station and live interviews, as well as Bush screensavers, pictures and electronic post cards. Visitors can also test their knowledge with a trivia game or register to vote.

"It's a different kind of site for a different kind of Republican, a different kind of e-publican, if you will," Eskew says.

The campaign will solicit contributions through the convention, but is preparing for the post-convention fundraising ban by adding options that allow supporters to volunteer or write a letter to their local newspaper.

"This represents a major step forward driving grassroots action," Eskew says.

The Bush campaign established its first Internet site in March 1999. The organization reports the site receives an average of 150,000 daily page visits.

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