We mentioned a couple of times recently how Verizon has been planning to roll out a better way to geotarget ads to its mobile customers, and that Congress had sent a letter to the company, requesting answers on the privacy implications (or lack thereof) of this new planned effort. Well, apparently things are moving forward to the point that Verizon actually updated its privacy policy and began informing its customers of the initiative last Friday, outlining what exact information it would be accessing, and how to opt out should they not want to be subject to this tracking… [Mashable]

Not sure you would have needed survey results to have noticed/known this, but according to a recent USA Today/Gallup survey, those of us who use Facebook more frequently than others are less worried about privacy than users who don’t spend as much time on the network… [PC World]

As more and more entrepreneurs seem to be popping up and developing new products, particularly in mobile, and as these products seem to be pushing the digital medium further along in its evolution, there has obviously been a concern about the personal data these products need access to in order to provide users’ the experiences they intend to provide. Well, recognizing this, the FTC’s “Privacy Czar” has warned said entrepreneurs to design their products to access only the personal information absolutely necessary to provide their intended experiences, lest they feel the wrath of his agency…or something like that… [TechCrunch]

You may remember we recently mentioned how the Amazon Kindle Fire’s built-in web browser Silk carries some privacy impliations with it, due to the data it allows Amazon to access on users. But if you’re wondering what privacy advocate group the Electronic Frontier Foundation thinks about it – apparently it gets their seal of approval…well, technically it said it was “generally satisfied” with the browser’s “privacy design,” but you get the idea… [PC Mag]

We know we’ve noted the fact that the legislation principally governing digital privacy is from 1986 approximately several hundred times over the course of this blog’s tenure on the internet, but apparently it recently officially saw its 25th birthday. But with no other solid answer on the table, as this article’s headline points out, this is one birthday that’s probably not worth celebrating… [PC World]

Perhaps at some point in the history of your relationship with Google, you had disabled its tracking of your web searches, a feature the company used to serve you more relevant ads. Well, if you had done so, maybe re-check to see if it’s still disabled, since apparently a number of people recently noted that despite disabling the feature long in the past, it was magically currently enabled… [TechCrunch]

You may remember how last week we mentioned Congressmen Markey and Barton sending a letter to Verizon inquiring about the potential privacy implications of an allegedly planned ad geotargeting program. Well, the Congressmen sent another letter on Friday, this time to Amazon, inquiring about the privacy implications of the Kindle Fire’s web browser, which as we also mentioned recently, gives the company the ability (in theory) to track users behavior all over the internet while they’re using it… [NY Times]

Elsewhere in Congress and digital privacy – apparently much like everyone else, the “commerce subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee” is also split on whether or not we need new legislation to regulate online advertising. Obviously the ad industry, as we’ve mentioned, has made efforts to self-regulate that might obviate the need for legislation, and some industry players make a good point in stating that the industry can move much more quickly than Congress in combating any kind of “illegal” tracking, but some Congressman Barton (also mentioned above) makes the fair point that self-regulation might not afford consumers the full protection they want… [PC World]

Continuing with the government theme – apparently a part of the office of national intelligence is hoping to begin “mining” data across the web, including social data from consumers, in order to better predict “political crises, revolutions and other forms of social and economic instability.” Obviously accessing consumer data without consumers’ permissions raises some serious privacy questions, but obviously we’re not at the stage yet where this might be debated, since the program is only theoretical for America just yet (though there is apparently a planned effort to mine and analyze this type of data from 21 Latin American countries starting next year)… [NY Times]

Finally, it has been a while since we mentioned the upstart anti-Facebook social network being built by a group of NYU students, Diaspora. And unfortunately, this time we’re not mentioning it to tell you that it’s available to anyone beyond Alpha testers. Rather, we’re mentioning it because it’s asking people for money, as it is apparently in need of further funding in order to eventually roll the service out to the public… [TechCrunch]

First things first, what we think is probably the biggest digital privacy news this week was the revelation yesterday that almost half of the top 185 US websites “transmit identifying details about their visitors to at least four outside websites.” The identifying details in most cases were just user IDs, but in some cases, like OkCupid.com, as this story points out, it was much more, including “gender, age, zip code, relationship status and ‘drug use frequency’”… [WSJ]

God bless America, land of the free, and home of the class action lawsuit against Facebook! Yep, a Kansas lawyer has apparently decided to become the latest to sue Facebook for its privacy practices (or lack thereof, depending on your perspective), specifically what has been in the news recently about the network tracking users with a cookie even when they’re logged out of Facebook… [TheNextWeb]

Over in Washington, DC, apparently Congressmen Joe Barton and Edward Markey are looking at Verizon as the latest potential privacy violator. The duo apparently sent a letter to the phone company last Thursday inquiring about the privacy implications of its plan to “start a geotargeted ad program”… [ClickZ]

If you didn’t think Anonymous would align itself in support of OccupyWallStreet, well, you probably just weren’t thinking about it. Nevertheless, in a show of said support, the hacking group attempted to take down the NYSE’s website, which it did, for about two minutes…literally… [Gizmodo]

If you’re a Spotify user, you’ll know that one of the most interesting or at least popular, though divisive, features is the ability to link the service to your Facebook account to share what you’re listening to with your Facebook friends. Well, apparently at some point in the recent past, the program had been logging users back into Facebook even if they had disconnected their Facebook accounts prior to that… [Gizmodo]

And in perhaps the most entertaining story of the day, apparently LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman recently said “all these concerns about privacy tend to be old people issues,” which certainly isn’t the first time someone has made such a statement, but is certainly notable given the notoriety of the source. And if you want to hear a rival professional social network founders clearly biased perspective on said statement, feel free to do check that out at the following link… [Business Insider]

We’re sure we don’t have to remind you that not long ago, Sony was dealing with quite a privacy problem when multiple networks containing customer data that it maintained were hacked. Well, apparently hackers attempted to hit Sony’s Playstation Network yet again last night, but this time, weren’t nearly as successful, and Sony immediately revealed the attempt, unlike the last time around… [paidcontent.org]

Finally, for our California readers, assuming we have any, you can thank Governor Jerry Brown for recently veto’ing a bill that would have forced law enforcement to secure a warrant before snooping on your phone after you’ve been arrested…then again, don’t get arrested and we suppose this won’t be a problem for you… [Gizmodo]

So, perhaps you’ve been timid when approaching social media because you’re unsure how what you say will or will not affect your professional reputation. Well, apparently the National Labor Relations Board recently published a report on social media usage and how it has affected and should affect your personal situation, which hopefully will at the very least spark a conversation about how social media should be or shouldn’t be used in employment situations. It’s not law, but it is the Board’s assessment of what is and is not acceptable… [Mashable]

I believe we’ve mentioned probably more than once over the past few months Congress’ initiatives to revise the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Well, rest assured the issue is still being kicked around by Congress, who despite their lack of action has at least recognized the necessity even on a personal level… [Washington Post]

You may remember us recently mentioning how Facebook “tracks” its users across the web, even when they aren’t logged in, or perhaps you are just generally aware of how Facebook operates. Well, apparently the Electronic Privacy Information Center and a bevy of like-minded privacy advocate organizations have asked the FTC to investigate “‘the extent of the harm to consumer privacy and safety’ in the company’s use of cookies and its proposed changes to its site” (presumably referring to the updated functionality Facebook announced at its recent F8 conference, including the timeline layout and “open graph” apps)… [Washington Post]

I know we’ve mentioned cases in the past involving the government tracking people using GPS, and how different federal circuits have split on the issue in terms of civil rights. Well, that circuit split is about to be resolved, as on of the cases on the docket for the Supreme Court’s upcoming term is one that should determine once and for all if this practice violates our civil liberties or not… [CNET]

Finally, some new Google Plus privacy features for y’all – the service recently released a feature that allows users to disable comments on a post completely, and “lock” a post so that other users can’t re-share it with their own “friends” on the service… [VentureBeat]

We’re sure you’ll remember that last week we highlighted a story indicating that OnStar, the automobile support provider, was keeping customer data even after customers unsubscribed from its service, in order to facilitate a quick turn on should any such customer want to resubscribe at some point. Well, not anymore. Thanks to the internet media machine, the company has said that it will no longer engage in said practice… [ABC News]

If you follow digital news in general, chances are you’ve heard about Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet, which users can access the internet through using Amazon’s own browser called Silk. Well apparently, due to the way the browser connects you to the web, when users use Silk they could be exposing their entire browsing history to Amazon… [PC World]

So, we’re sure it’s no secret that wireless carriers keep data on their customers (you all). Things like where you are and where you’ve been, the messages you’ve sent, etc. Well, if you’re wondering exactly what data your mobile provider is keeping on you, we strongly suggest that you check this story out… [TechCrunch]

Perhaps you remember us recently highlighting a story about how Facebook “tracks” users across the web, even when they’re not logged in. Either way, here’s how to stop them from doing that through a Google Chrome browser extension… [Gizmodo]

And you may have also caught wind of the new and improved Facebook, features of which the service announced at its F8 conference last week. Well, naturally along with those changes can come questions on how they may or may not affect your privacy on the service. In case you’re interested in learning how to manage privacy with the new features, Mashable has you covered… [Mashable]

Finally, the Wall Street Journal has been on the privacy beat for the better part of a year or so now, and over the course of that time, some have even raised questions about the paper’s own privacy policy. Whether related to that or not, the iconic pub just announced a revised privacy policy this week… [WSJ]

Honestly, at this point, you may have already suspected that Facebook was “tracking” you beyond its own .com borders, and even when you’re logged out, but just in case you hadn’t, they are… [VentureBeat]

And while we’re on the ever-popular topic of Facebook and privacy – here’s a discussion of how Facebook’s latest announcements have affected your privacy on the platform… [Mashable]

Keeping it rolling, one of the features Facebook revealed last week was the ability to share media experiences with your friends, including listening to songs they are listening to on Spotify, and potentially watching movies and tv shows they’re watching on Netflix. The Netflix part, however, is proving to be more difficult, as pre-internet era legislation prevents Facebook and Netflix from revealing what users are watching (we think technically it’s that they can’t reveal what movies/shows users have rented). So, naturally, Netflix is asking(telling) people to support a bill that would repeal the archaic law and let the people have their shared watching experiences… [paidcontent.org]

In other news – apparently last week, Anonymous “declared” this past Saturday a “day of vengeance,” which sounds quite ominous, but we have yet to see any reports about whether or not anything actually happened. So, yeah, that happened…maybe… [TechCrunch]

And perhaps that’s because authorities recently apparently arrested a few Anonymous/Lulz masterminds last Thursday… [FoxNews.com]

So, apparently OnStar recently updated its privacy policy to include provisions that allow it to retain data on any OnStar customers “speed and location” even after customers cancel the service. The stated rationale, which makes sense, but probably won’t be sufficient to appease many users/former users, is to make it a seamless transition back into OnStar land if a customer who has canceled his/her service wants to re-engage it… [Wired]

We’re not altogether sure we understand the technical details behind how, but apparently those of us using Skype’s iOS app may be vulnerable to crafty hackers stealing our personal information… [Mashable]

Just a quick update on digital privacy abroad – apparently Europe’s Interactive Advertising Bureau set up a website this summer where European users could go and opt-out of “ad tracking” (a possible manifestation of the acceptance of advertising industry self-regulation). Of course, this hasn’t really appeased regulators or consumer interest groups, who unsurprisingly (and perhaps rightfully) argue that users should have to opt-in to the practice… [NY Times]

And finally, back here in the States, we’ve mentioned the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act before on the pages of Privacy Net, so it shouldn’t be an unfamiliar concept to any of you who have followed us for a while. Nevertheless, the Act doesn’t just have a clever name, and one of its most basic but powerful components is that it mandates than any company/presence online that requests personal information from children under 13 to secure parental consent before doing so. Well, the FTC is apparently in the midst of proposing updates to the Act, and has outlined some proposed changes, discussed in this article, but it is also looking for public comment on its proposed changes… [Mashable]

A whole lotta Facebook privacy going on lately…err, something like that…

First, the network updated its Android app earlier this week to integrate the more granular privacy controls it recently rolled out for users on the web – the ability to determine who sees what you are posting to your wall/newsfeed… [PC World]

But perhaps most importantly, it apparently also just hired/appointed a former “data/privacy” attorney to be its first “Director of Privacy,” which probably comes at a good time given the story we’re about to highlight below (not that they haven’t needed someone in this position for a long time anyhow)… [AFP]

And lastly on the Facebook front, apparently representatives from the service were allegedly scheduled to meet with “lawmakers” yesterday on the topic of children’s privacy, following a similar appearance before such individuals last week by another privacy-dogged uber-web-brand, Google… [CBS News]

Which segues nicely to this story, that just so happens to be about Google, who just announced that it would start allowing people to opt-out of its service “that allows smartphone owners to identify their location without using GPS (Global Positioning System),” by instead using peoples’ wi-fi access points to help determine location. The decision seems to have stemmed from a Dutch ruling against the company for violating privacy by using this practice, through which it collected something like 3.6 million service set identifiers from individuals’ access points, which now have to be deleted (according to the ruling). So don’t say the Dutch never did anything for you, I guess… [PC World]

If you’ve been following along at home for the last year or so, you’ll remember that Germany is a country particularly interested in and scrutinizing of its citizens’ privacy. So much so that it recently challenged Facebook on privacy. But the social networking giant has stepped up to the plate, and will be working with the German government to develop a [albeit voluntary] “code of conduct” in order to better protect users’ privacy… [WSJ]

Elsewhere in Facebook privacy news, apparently the network has now also adjusted things so that users can “screen” photos they’re tagged in…which of course you could already do anyhow by untagging yourself in any photos you had been tagged in that you didn’t want to be known for, but yeah… [Daily Mail]

Another thing you may be familiar with if you’ve been following Privacy Net for any substantial period of time is countries wanting access to Blackberry users’ communications, and specifically their BBM conversations. If memory serves us, India had wanted similar access last year, but the latest country is South Africa… [TechCrunch]

So, we’ve talked a lot about online ad “tracking” in the past, and we’re sure that won’t stop anytime soon, but one concept we’ve mentioned numerous times since maybe last November is the idea of “Do Not Track” protection for users. Well, apparently Mozilla, makers of the Firefox browser, released a “Do Not Track” guide last week, as well as numbers on users who have already opted for “Do Not Track” (about 5% of the Firefox user base, if I’m reading things correctly)… [Mozilla]

If we’ve learned nothing from writing this blog, it’s that Facebook is just never going to escape privacy scrutiny. Of course, it doesn’t do itself a lot of favors, but anyway, the latest in Facebook and privacy (technically, security) is that apparently if you’re a Page creator, any other Page admin can boot you from your admin status without your approval… [Mashable]

You may remember a while back that Apple and Google came under fire for tracking iOS and Android users locations without their explicit approval (and for retaining the data from such practice, if I remember correctly). Well, now joining their ranks is Microsoft, who is apparently being sued for tracking Windows phone users locations, even those users who have opted out of such tracking… [Gizmodo]

Third, it’s been a little while since we’ve heard from the hacking group Anonymous. But that doesn’t mean they’ve been resting. In fact, late last week, the group revealed that it had hacked a Houston, TX area law enforcement site, and unearthed a 3 GB load of data, including some racist and/or otherwise unsavory emails… [Gizmodo]

Finally, everything you ever wanted to know about the latest means for “tracking” users online – Supercookies… [Mashable]