Legislators’ web sites snooping on visitors

WASHINGTON — Dozens of lawmakers in Congress are using tracking tools on their campaign websites to collect personal information about online visitors, including some legislators who have lambasted Facebook and other social media companies for employing similar methods.

The revelations underscore how critical internet tracking has become to politicians who seek information on voters in their districts to target them with advertising.

One senator removed tracking tools from his campaign website after his office was contacted by McClatchy, and another lawmaker pledged to put up a privacy alert about the tracking.

Many others did not respond to queries about their use. Among them was Rep. Paul Tonko, a Democrat from upstate New York who joined other legislators in scolding Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at a House hearing April 11.

“Users trusted Facebook to prioritize user privacy and data security, and that trust has been shattered,” Tonko told Zuckerberg.

Yet Tonko has been less than transparent with people visiting his re-election website. The site offers no warning that it employs a tracking tool that gathers information on those who land there.

In dozens of cases during the recently concluded midterm elections, candidates used a tracking tool, two of them, or even three, on their campaign websites without informing users. Such embedded tools can collect granular data — such as age, gender, location and even specifics about the computer the visitor is using, and sites he or she has visited — that is increasingly useful for campaign advertising, identifying possible supporters and even shaping political platforms.

Tonko was not the only lawmaker offering tough questions to Zuckerberg in public while employing a different strategy in private. Democratic and Republican legislators pelted Zuckerberg with criticism, only to use campaign websites that failed to alert visitors that their sites contained tools that snoop.

Some experts say that tracking tools can gather such valuable data that politicians may find themselves squirming to write privacy regulations for big tech companies without harming their own future re-election bids, which increasingly rely on deep voter profiles compiled through tracking for pinpoint advertising on social media, particularly Facebook.

In many cases, when contacted by a reporter, lawmakers declined to respond to queries about their use of tracking tools. In two cases, legislators made changes — or pledged to do so — to their websites.