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Presidential Hopefuls Take A Pass On Privacy
Washington policymakers and many privacy advocates have pushed self-regulation as the answer for protecting online privacy, at the very least insisting that Web sites publish privacy statements to clarify how they intend use personal information collected about their visitors.
Just don't bother looking for them on many presidential campaign Web sites. While the 2000 campaign cycle stands to be the first where the Internet plays more than a peripheral role, presidential campaigns appear to be at the beginning of a learning curve on privacy. Despite the heavy congressional and administration interest in online privacy, and the widespread media coverage of privacy issues, more than half the most prominent presidential hopefuls haven't taken steps to include privacy statements on their campaign Web sites.
Of the 11 major Republican candidates, only four have posted privacy statements on their Web sites, while both major Democratic candidates do so. Yet nearly all of the sites ask individuals to provide personal information on electronic forms in order to make contributions or sign up to volunteer for campaign work.
When contacted, most campaign press representatives indicated they did not know anything about online privacy policies at all. Some referred questions to the campaigns' webmasters, believing the topic was technical, rather than political.
One researcher said he doesn't think online privacy policies will win or lose the 2000 race for the White House, but will make an impression on the Internet community.
"It will be bad symbolically," said Michael Cornfield, director of the Democracy Online Project at George Washington University. "People who are Web-savvy are going to react negatively. It will register."
The project is in the process of developing a "bare bones" online privacy policy for candidates, Cornfield said.
"Presidential candidates have to do a better job responding to the protection of people's privacy," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Washington, DC-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). "It's going to be critical to see where the candidates line up on the Internet issue."
Rotenberg supports legislation requiring Web sites to have privacy protection standards. He recently testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Courts and Intellectual Property panel on a study released by a Georgetown University professor that found that 66 percent of 364 Web sites surveyed post some type of privacy policy.
Ari Schwartz, policy analyst for the Center for Democracy and Technology, said privacy policies need not be elaborate or time consuming to develop. They also should follow a standardized protocol by listing them on their home page, he said.
"There is a general agreement that policies should be posted on Web sites," he said. "If you're collecting information of any kind, you should have a policy."
Schwartz said CDT is especially concerned with sites collecting campaign contributions online.
"Privacy is a big issue," he said.
Of the Republicans posting privacy statements, Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, whose campaign site is at www.mccain2000.com, and who heads the Senate Commerce Committee, has the clearest. McCain has said he plans to hold hearings this summer to determine whether a congressional mandate is needed to encourage more responsible online privacy policies.
Other Republicans including privacy policies, some of which were difficult to locate on their sites, include Steve Forbes (www.forbes2000.com), Elizabeth Dole (www.edole2000.org/), and Rep. John Kasich, R-OH (www.k2k.org).
A consultant for McCain said her agency is trying to push the need for online privacy policies with candidates using their services to set up campaign Web sites.
"I think they've all got a policy, it just might not be posted," said Becki Donatelli, chairman of Hockaday Donatelli Campaign Solutions. "The notion of putting a policy in print is a new notion."
Donatelli said that most campaigns are protective of the information they collect through direct mail, telemarketing or the Internet, so it's unlikely they would abuse information collected online.
"Our people are very jealous of their own information and their people," she said. "I don't know of anyone who plans on marketing their lists. It's bad Internet manners."
Kasich spokesman Duke Hipp said "it makes sense" for the campaign to post a privacy policy.
"It seems logical to let [users] know what the information is used for," he said.
Kasich's one-page policy reads, in part: "Information submitted to K2K will not be distributed to other organizations without your prior explicit authorization. Your personal information will be used to meet the goals of K2K while offering customized services to you, based on your preferences."
Kasich's site includes online volunteer sign-up forms as well as a section to make credit card contributions.
Dole's policy is a little trickier to find. It isn't accessible unless a user wants to sign up for an e-mail newsletter. Online volunteer and contribution pages don't display a privacy notice, nor is it posted on the home page.
GOP frontrunner Gov. George W. Bush, TX, is one of seven Republican candidates with no online privacy statement.
After some initial confusion over what an online privacy statement was, Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said the campaign Web site doesn't have one because campaign contribution information is publicly available through the Federal Elections Commission anyway.
The Bush Web site collects campaign contributions via credit card and check (through a mail-in form), and personal contact information for campaign volunteers.
"Part of the reason we don't have one yet is part of the information is public already," she said. "There are many issues that come along when putting up a Web site."
She said the campaign is taking a look at developing a policy for the volunteer sign-in page.
George Washington University's Cornfield said it's ironic that Bush's site doesn't indicate whether he protects privacy.
"Not only is he one without a privacy policy, he's complaining that his privacy has been invaded," Cornfield said, referring to Bush's complaints about a rogue Web site using his name and the design of his official site.
"They're going to be the most scrutinized of all," he added. "You would think that would give them the insight to protect privacy," he added.
Tucker said the allegations over the anti-Bush Web site were related to copyright and FEC violations.
"It wasn't a privacy issue," she said.
Other Republicans lacking privacy statements include Lamar Alexander, Gary Bauer, Pat Buchanan, Alan Keyes, Dan Quayle and New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith.
"Everything is used internally, that's why we haven't seen the need to put one on there," said Mark Fuqua, Alexander spokesman.
Quayle spokesman Jonathan Baron initially said the campaign's site had no privacy policy because all information collected on it is "kept confidential." He later said that the campaign "will offer a privacy statement on the Web in the near future."
Bauer's campaign Web site, www.Bauer2k.com, complains that the Clinton Administration has not protected privacy in general, but it does not say whether the campaign protects privacy on its own site. That issue has not been raised, a spokesman said.
"The information on the Web site is pretty self-explanatory for what it's going to be used for," said Bauer spokeswoman Jessica Morris. "That's information we need if people volunteer."
But the Bauer site also has an online application for campaign interns asking for a student's e-mail address, college, school address, home and school telephone numbers and date of birth.
Leading Democratic contender Vice President Al Gore has the most extensive policy, listing it on nearly every page on the Web site. It also allows users to unsubscribe from e-mail lists via the Web site. (Gore's Web page , www.algore2000.com, had a rocky start when it initially asked children to give personal information, a policy quickly abandoned after it was publicized.)
"The vice president is very committed to protecting personal privacy on the Internet," said spokesman Roger Salazar. "He's been a strong proponent of privacy policies."
Former New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, who is challenging Gore for the Democratic presidential nomination, also includes a basic privacy policy where personal information is collected on his site, www.billbradley.com.
The candidates may be following the leads of their parties. The Republican National Committee does not have a privacy policy, while the Democratic National Committee does.
A spokesman for the RNC said the committee keeps information private even though no policy is posted.
"Our policy is clear," said RNC spokesman Mark Pfeifle. "We don't sell our list to anybody. We dislike junk mail like others."
When individuals sign up as "online activists" their e-mail alerts contain a message saying that the RNC doesn't share e-mail addresses with other organizations.
Pfeifle later said a privacy policy would soon be included on the RNC's Web page.
"We are updating our site in the next two to four weeks and we will be including a privacy policy," he said. "We needed a little bit of a makeover and this will be included."
Donatelli said she expects all of the campaigns to come around by next year when the race heats up.
"This is something more on our radar than theirs," she said. "By the end of the campaign, you'll see them all have it."
—by Rebecca S. Weiner
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