And the privacy beat goes on…

So, perhaps you remember that despite the lack of any formal legislation mandating it, Mozilla, Microsoft and Apple have each implemented a “Do Not Track” feature in the latest versions of their respective browsers (Mozilla even just integrated the option into its Firefox Android browser as well). But one glaringly absent player in the browser game is obviously Google, as the company has yet to, nor may it have any plans to, integrate such a feature into its Chrome browser…apparently because of a lack of clarity around what is “tracking” on the web… [paidcontent.org]

But just because browsers have taken preemptive remedial measures doesn’t mean the rest of the appropriate players are doing the same. According to the firm Evidon, which provides icon technology that allows users to know when they’re being “tracked” and gives them the ability to opt out, only about 10% of advertisers have currently implemented the icon… [WSJ]

And while we’re pointing to a Wall Street Journal story about privacy, as you probably know the Journal has been hot on the digital privacy tip for a while now, taking a pretty firm and transparent perspective that not everyone is in love with… [paidcontent.org]

Obviously there are several bills currently under consideration in Congress regarding digital privacy, perhaps the most noted of which is John Kerry and John McCain’s “Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights,” but what would this piece of legislation really mean for us users? [EFF Deeplinks Blog]

Finally, despite the fact that its currently against “the law,” Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg firmly believes that children under 13 should be able to join Facebook…not surprising, but not for the reason you might think…he actually thinks Facebook has good educational potential…an interesting idea, indeed… [Fortune]

Well, Google is mad as hell…er, at least not gonna take it anymore…”it” being Switzerland’s supreme court ruling that requires the company to blur images of people in Google Street View. The company apparently threatened to “wipe” all photos of Swiss people from Street View entirely if Switzerland’s court did not overturn the decision…and away we go! [AP]

But of course, that’s not all for Google today. Apparently, the Justice Department is also investigating Google Advertising for some type of undisclosed violation that may or may not relate to privacy… [NY Times]

And because we can’t go a week without someone somewhere in the US suing Apple – another suit was filed against the company, as well as Pandora Media and The Weather Channel, alleging that those companies apps have/had been sharing users’ location information with 3rd party ad networks without those users’ consent… [CNET]

Interestingly, while Congress seemed to have taken such umbrage with Apple and Google’s practice of collecting iOS and Android device users locations, apparently the Justice Department has nothing bad to say about the practice…in fact, it wants Congress to introduce a bill that would require mobile providers to collect such information in order to help it catch criminals… [InformationWeek]

So I feel like we’ve mentioned this a lot here, but there was a time when Facebook apps “leaked” users’ information to app makers. Apparently now, however, that “problem” has been fixed, and it should be business as usual…until the next Facebook privacy “fiasco,” that is… [WSJ]

Nevertheless, we’re not done with Facebook yet today…I’m sure you’ll all be interested to hear about how Facebook apparently hired the PR firm Burson-Marsteller to pitch a story about how Google products (specifically something called “Social Circle”) violate users’ privacy…classy move all around, guys… [Business Insider]

Oh, but there’s more…not about Facebook specifically, but rather, its users. Apparently, according to Consumer Reports’ recently released, “2011 Consumer Reports State of the Net Survey” a third of Facebook users under 18, are actually under 13. But even more interesting (and relevant) is that about one in every five ["active"] US Facebook users uses ZERO privacy controls… [PC World]

And finally, not to keep you hanging too long on how yesterday’s hearing on Apple and Google’s mobile location tracking went – apparently by the end of the three hour hearing, Senator Al Franken, who convened the hearing and has been significantly involved in privacy legislation since becoming head of the Senate’s Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, remained unconvinced that users’ privacy was “being respected” (in that users don’t have the ability to opt in or [more importantly] out), given the practice… [PC Mag]

So, obviously the biggest thing going on in digital privacy today is the Congressional hearing called by Senator Al Franken. As we’ve mentioned a couple of times, the events of the last couple of weeks have really spurred quick movement in the area, and testifying at today’s hearing will be representatives from Apple, Google, the FTC, the Justice Department, and “a consumer advocate”… [USA Today]

But at the aforementioned hearing, the powers that be ought not to think too narrowly on the subject of mobile privacy, singling out apps as the problem. Clearly there are much broader digital privacy concerns and implications at play here, and so Congress should be thinking about how it can introduce a comprehensive bill that covers all of the different privacy issues through the web, mobile, social networking and any other relevant aspect of digital… [CNET]

Either way, as we noted yesterday, there’s now a second digital privacy bill in the mix that incorporates the spirit of the FTC’s “Do Not Track” mechanism for protecting users. If you were wondering how said bill was received by privacy advocate groups, as you might expect, that would be warmly. It’s also important to note that it’s not advocating a strict “Do Not Track” that wouldn’t allow companies to track users at all, but rather it would require companies to offer users the ability to opt out, and respect such decision unless absolutely necessary for its site to function… [Ars Technica]

Not long ago, we mentioned that the upcoming version of Google’s Chrome browser will include a feature that allows users to delete the infamously pesky Flash cookies that we’ve also noted in the past can be quite a pain to get rid of. Well, the beta version of that release is apparently now available… [Google Chrome Blog]

And with all of the scrutiny on cookie tracking over the last year or so, many (mostly in advertising) have been concerned that if new legislation bars companies from cookie’ing users, digital commerce may suffer greatly. But even if that were to happen, Buyosphere may have a better way. Instead of companies “silently” collecting data on users, Buyosphere allows users to provide information to companies on what types of things are relevant to them…which, of course, in the end is pretty much the same thing, but what separates the cookie method from Buyosphere is the transparency and control… [Mashable]

Speaking of the practice of cookie’ing – as you may remember, we’ve mentioned that the EU has proposed a ban on said practice. Well, apparently the UK’s Information Commissioner thought publishing “guidance on the implementation” of the new proposal would help everyone better understand what the proposed regulation actually meant. Unfortunately, by this account, it did not…in any way… [WSJ]

Well, despite the fact that “Do Not Track” did not end up making it into the bill John Kerry and John McCain recently introduced to Congress, it still seems to be getting to be a hot time for the concept. Indeed, not only is West Virginia Senator John Rockefeller considering introducing a “Do Not Track” bill himself, but the battle continues over California’s “Do Not Track” law that we mentioned had been introduced not long ago… [Washington Post - Rockefeller Bill | Sacramento Bee - California Bill]

And while we’re talking about what’s going on in Washington, perhaps you remember that tomorrow is the big day for location privacy on Capitol Hill. Specifically, Senator Al Franken had convened a hearing on location-tracking and the recent revelations from Apple and Google regarding such tracking. So, naturally, Apple will be participating, sending its VP of Software Technology Bud Tribble to handle the Committee’s inquiries… [CNET]

But all this activity and interest in the area of digital privacy is probably not a bad thing, considering that consumers really had no legislative protection for/from the recent serious security breaches of Sony’s Playstation Network and Online Entertainment Network, as well as that of Epsilon, the email provider for a number of major businesses, and others… [NY Times]

Oh, and about that Sony breach…apparently Sony may not have seen the last of those skilled hackers (or others, for that matter)… [CNET]

The biggest news this morning is that, as promised, Apple delivered the update to iOS yesterday that “fixes” the location-tracking problem that got the company in all of its recent hot water. So, if you’re on iPhone/iPad and don’t want Apple knowing where you’ve been, it’s time to download the update and rectify the situation… [AP]

But fortunately or unfortunately (depending on who you are), it’s really all about Sony this week in digital privacy. In relation to the company’s recent [multiple] data breaches, resulting in the theft of data on millions of users, the company is also facing scrutiny from several governmental players, both here and to the North…

First, it “detailed” the hack that led to the aforementioned data theft to Congress… [Mashable]

But, it’s not just the federal government that’s on top of Sony about this, as New York’s Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman also just subpoena’d the company for said breach/data theft… [NY Times]

And then, Canada’s Privacy Czar admonished the company, but also used the situation to call for the power to fine companies for these types of data breaches… [Vancouver Sun]

In the days immediately following the uproar over the revelation that Google and Apple “track” users of their devices, we mentioned last week that some consumers wasted no time in suing Apple for that practice. Well, Apple ain’t alone in that anymore – two Michigan women have now sued Google for the same chicanery… [Detroit News]

Elsewhere in Google and mobile privacy – Google’s Mobile Director Jason Spero recently commented that he thought the Interactive Advertising Bureau should take a more active stance on mobile privacy, and generally set guidelines so companies can have a better idea of how to build/tweak their mobile apps/products… [PC Mag]

So, we mentioned last week that Sony’s Playstation Network had been hacked and that as a result, millions of users’ personal information was compromised, including potentially credit card info. Well, the latter indeed seems to be turning out to be true, as Sony said info on something like 10 million credit card may have been compromised, although nothing has been confirmed… [Kotaku]

I’m not sure we didn’t know this already, but in addition to Apple and Google as device OS makers, our own mobile phone companies also store geolocation data on us (at least in part for our own safety), though they haven’t experienced the same level of scrutiny (yet, anyway) for it. Either way, Verizon apparently will start putting warning labels on its phones warning users that it does in fact have the ability (and may) “track” their movements… [Forbes]

Finally, it’s not like Sony’s recent breach (noted above and last Thursday) was the first of its kind – indeed, at least several major such breaches have occurred over the last six months to a year – but while it might seem counterintuitive, customers of those vendors/companies who had their security breached have actually stayed as customers of those vendors/companies… [AP]

So, obviously most of our coverage this week has focused on Apple and Google’s iOS/Android location-tracking privacy situation. And we’ve mentioned how Apple first stated pretty matter of factly that it does not track users, then blamed it on a glitch they are planning to fix in a forthcoming OS update. But apparently, in addition to all of that, Steve Jobs himself will actually be testifying in Al Franken’s hearing on mobile privacy… [Mac Observer]

However, that may not be enough for one Congressman. Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington actually wants the FTC to investigate this location-tracking issue further (although he seems to have focused solely on Apple…maybe no one told him about Google’s role in the issue), advocating potentially adding another layer to the scrutiny… [CNET]

But the scrutiny brought upon Apple because of this location tracking issue isn’t just coming down in the US. In fact, several European nations are already investigating Apple’s iPhone/iPad to see if the devices violate their privacy rules, which if you remember can be (and most often are) stricter than those here in the States…basically meaning this could turn into what last year’s Street View debacle was for Google (which it is still feeling the effects of, as you may well know), only for Apple… [Bloomberg]

And while we’re on the subject, Mashable both breaks down “What Locationgate Says About How Consumers Perceive Information Privacy” and asks “Are You Satisfied with Apple’s Response to the iPhone-Tracking Debacle”… [What Locationgate Says | Are You Satisfied with Apple's Response]

Finally, one thing we have yet to mention this week was that recently, Sony’s Playstation Network was hacked, and indeed the hackers got a hold of the Network’s users’ personal data, including “their names, addresses, e-mail addresses, and PlayStation user names and passwords” and potentially even their credit card numbers…eek… [NY Times]

Well, after the uproar created at the end of last week/this past weekend about Apple and Google “tracking” iOS (iPhone/iPad) and Android users respectively, you already knew the digital privacy-focused Congress was going to get involved on some level (beyond just sending a letter, like Al Franken did to Apple last week). And sure enough, both Apple and Google have been summoned to a privacy hearing on May 10 to discuss the iPhone/Android location tracking “issue” we’ve mentioned over the last few days… [Ars Technica]

But outside of the floor of Congress, Apple also may find itself in a courtroom, as a couple of iPhone/iPad users have sued the company for its location tracking activities… [Bloomberg]

Either way, according to Steve Jobs himself, Apple “[doesn't] track anyone” and “the info circulating around is false”…so for whatever that’s worth… [MacRumors]

So, you probably remember how last Thursday, we mentioned that Apple has the iPhone set up to store location data on users whereabouts. Well, that’s not a practice exclusive to Apple’s OS. Apparently, Google’s Android OS is programamed to store user location data as well, and while Apple only periodically collects this data on iPhone users, it sounds like Android transmits the data to Google much more often (“at least several times an hour”)… [WSJ]

And if you’re curious to know where Google stores this information on your Android phone, this is the article for you (or you could just watch the video above)… [Laptop Magazine]

But fortunately (and if you’re an Android owner you may have been shouting this at your screen when you read the description of the first story), Android’s location-tracking is opt-in and anonymized. So, if Google is tracking you, it’s only because you volunteered for it, and the good news is, if you’re having second thoughts, you can always opt out… [TechCrunch]

If there was a timelier release of study results, I haven’t seen it – last Thursday, Nielsen released a report revealing that “many Americans have strong concerns about losing some privacy by using location-based mobile services.” The study goes on to detail that the groups most concerned with location privacy are women, and individuals who are 45+… [NY Times]

So, here’s the part of our (seemingly daily) routine in which we talk about the latest country to go after Google for one alleged privacy violation or another. Earlier last week, The Netherlands finally challenged the company on its Street View wi-fi practices of 2010. Rounding out the week, Belgium became the latest European nation to investigate Google’s [previous] Street View efforts within its borders… [AFP]

Of course, Apple is also finding itself on the business end of another nation’s privacy scrutiny. Apparently South Korea launched an investigation this morning to determine whether or not the aforementioned location tracking practice violates Apple’s privacy policy… [Economic Times]

This next bit of news certainly doesn’t surprise me, but maybe you’ll have a different reaction…According to the founder of the “Future of Privacy Forum think tank,” less than 1% of Firefox users have employed the new “Do Not Track” feature in its latest release… [paidcontent.org]

Finally, rounding out today’s all out blitz of news about location tracking – SimpleGeo is apparently a source for location data that has data on about 20 million locations that it has just made open source (released into the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero license) for anyone to use/integrate into apps. Which sort of makes you wonder if all that is available for free, why Apple and Google feel the need to build their own proprietary databases… [Fast Company]

When Microsoft released its latest version of Internet Explorer – IE9 – one of the biggest new features it offered users was a “Do Not Track” opt-out of ad tracking. Well, it’s not alone in integrating such a feature into the latest version of its browser, as Apple did the same in the recently minted version of its Safari browser… [paidcontent.org]

While it might be encouraging to some that John Kerry and John McCain just introduced a new digital privacy bill recently, it would probably be naive to think that even if it passes, it will mean companies won’t be able to “find” us online…of course, that’s doesn’t really seem to be the point of the new legislation (so much as it is being transparent about what’s being collected, why, and offering the ability to opt out), but I’m just reporting what I read… [CNN]

Oh, and don’t be surprised if you see numerous articles to this effect popping up around the web while the new privacy bill is making its way around congress – “Five Big Problems With The New Privacy Bill of Rights”… [PC World]

Finally, according to a study of 65 Columbia students, the University researchers looking into Facebook privacy controls concluded that those controls are “fundamentally flawed” because the students studied were “either unintentionally sharing information they’d intended not to or unable to share something as desired” and were either “unable to correct” their settings as desired or “had given up trying”… [Chicago Tribune]