Fedwire
Justice seeks wireless network
The Justice Department intends to pump $500 million into developing a wireless network that will enable its six branches to share information.
The department hopes to have a system in place before the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
The network—a mix of land mobile radio and commercial support services—would link the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Prisons and the Office of the Inspector General. It would also allow communication with state and local agencies.
A request for proposals from vendors was issued Feb. 16.
DOT complies with cookie rule
The Transportation Department is complying with an Office of Management and Budget policy on cookies after a review by the agency's inspector general found department Web sites that violated the rule, according to a Feb. 26 report from the IG.
Persistent cookies are small data files placed on computers by Web servers to track visitor information. Agency heads can approve the use of cookies when there is a compelling need for them, but sites must post notices explaining how the information is used.
Between August and February, the IG identified 22 department Web pages using unauthorized persistent cookies, most of them Federal Aviation Administration sites.
As of Dec. 31, all DOT agencies except the FAA had certified their compliance with the rule, and the FAA certified its compliance on Jan. 31.
At the IG's recommendation, DOT developed a cookie-use checklist. The IG recommends that DOT update the checklist to require periodic recertification of compliance with the policy.