As the controversy brews over a proposed rule that would allow federal agencies to use cookies to closely track visitors to their web sites, it turns out that some are already engaging in some web monitoring.

The Hill.com reports that some federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense, are paying a private company to analyze their web traffic.

The company, ComScore, said it does not give the government personally identifiable information about citizens, such as IP addresses, which can indicate the exact location of a web user. Instead, the firm provides general data about the demographics of website visitors.

The NIH uses the service to determine how people use their site to find information so it can improve its operations. The FTC uses the analysis tools to monitor whether mature movies and video games are being improperly advertised in locations geared to children.

The Army uses the service to determine if its recruitment ads are being directed to the right audiences. The newly proposed federal regulation would allow agencies to collect personal data about visitors to their sites, a move that has aroused the ire of civil liberties advocates. Commercial sites use cookies to store preferences, log-in information and to collect other personal data.

For more on feds monitoring the web:
- see this article in The Hill