Most often when we mention specific companies in conjunction with privacy issues, it has been the usual suspects – Google and Facebook. But another major digital US company – Amazon – has found itself in litigation related to privacy as well, for allegedly circumventing the Internet Explorer browser’s privacy controls to collect information about users that it might not otherwise be able to collect… [MediaPost]

But while some people are so worried about others knowing what they do on the web that they would sue a company who collects info on them, there are apparently others who are so unconcerned that they would actively sign up to share their entire browsing history with others through services like Dscover.me, Sitesimon.com and Voyurl.com… [Gizmodo]

As we’ve been following for a while now, there seems to be a real battle brewing on Capitol Hill between Congress and online advertisers/marketers…and the latest related development is that a Florida Congressman wants legislation that would force advertisers to disclose how they are utilizing users’ personal information, and give users the ability to stop those advertisers from using their info (just to take “Do Not Track” one step further)… [Ars Technica]

Finally, if you’re worried about Facebook’s recent decision to give developers access to users’ phone numbers (and addresses), here’s something you might be interested in – “How to Block Facebook Apps with Access to Your Phone Number”… [The Atlantic]

We’ve mentioned flash cookies in the past, and particularly their ability to “regenerate” even when users delete their browser cookies. But the results of a new recent report suggest that this ability isn’t as strong as it once was, and is in fact waning… [paidcontent.org]

Not surprisingly, in what was probably more of a formality than anything else, Congress told Facebook the other day not to share its users phone numbers and addresses with 3rd party developers, access to which Facebook had suspended not longer after it allowed it… [All Facebook]

Rockmelt is a new and innovative web browser that weaves social networking right into it, which might have some privacy implications if its founders planned on monetizing it through marketing ads leveraging user data, but the founders will not. So, there you have it… [WSJ]

And just when you thought Google was out of the courtroom, it is now being sued by users who allege that its Google toolbar collects and stores user activity data, in spite of the fact that Google claims such collection can be turned off [Bloomberg]

But that may be just the beginning for Google, if the newly minted, more conservative Congress has anything to say about it… [LA Times]

In case you’re curious – here’s what blurred-out German homes look like in German Google Street View (above, and more info at link) [CNET]

For those of you worried about the Firefox extension, Firesheep (which ought to be pretty much anyone who ever uses a public wifi network), here’s the anti-Firesheep, Blacksheep, which alerts you when someone on the network to which you are connected is using Firesheep… [Help Net Security]

Did Facebook just open another can of privacy worms when it opened up its Places API to developers? [San Jose Mercury News]

Over the last week, many have wondered whether Congress will continue its efforts to bolster privacy online, and it sounds like there’s nothing to worry about [TheNextWeb]

Good advice for anyone – even if there’s no imminent privacy threat – go through all of the apps you have given permission to access your Facebook and delete any you never use…that way, they can’t mine/sell your data [Consumerist]

If there’s one thing we’ve learned this year as a web culture, I think it might be that all companies offering web/digital products/services need to think about how they would/will handle a user privacy “scandal” [PR Week]

And finally, for you watchful parents, there’s a new guide to Facebook that helps you make sure your child’s privacy protections are what you’d want them to be… [CNET]

So, in an effort to educate/warn other Starbucks internet browsers about Firesheep’s potential to allow others access to users’ personal information, one NYC programmer actually used the Firefox add-on to gather other users’ Facebook login info, which he then used to login to Facebook and send a warning message to those users own Facebook accounts, from their Facebook accounts…did you get all that? [Gizmodo]

The future of online privacy reform may be a little less certain here in the US, given the results of Tuesday’s elections, but in the EU, they’re full steam ahead – pushing for EU citizens’ “right to be forgotten” (IE – regulating how much/what info companies can collect on individual users) [MSNBC and NY Times]

Microsoft‘s latest gaming innovation – Kinect – has a built in camera and microphone…so, is there a potential for Microsoft to “spy” on gamers? I think that’s probably a little reactionary, but nevertheless, there is certainly potential for abuse [AOL]

And finally, you may have caught this already, but Facebook’s response to Congress on its latest privacy “breach” was basically that the reports which prompted Congress to question them were “false” and misunderstood…which actually may be a fair defense… [CNET]

Google’s global privacy counsel said he is surprised by how few users choose to control what ads they see from Google. At some point in the last year, Google gave users just such an ability, but apparently adoption has been weak [The Canadian Press]

But he also said that Google is “building stronger controls to safeguard privacy” [Reuters]

Either way, Google is the target of another class action suit, filed Monday, which alleges that it shares user search histories with 3rd parties. Google said it has yet to receive a copy of the complaint, but in any case, if it does share such search histories, it anonymizes the particular user, stripping out any personally identifiable information [AFP]

After the last week of privacy headlines, the head of the Senate’s Commerce Committee has asked Myspace and Facebook to detail how exactly they safeguard users’ information [WSJ]

An interesting note about Cloud Computing – before it can really become viable, Congress may have to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, since as of right now, all the government needs is a prosecutor or investigator-issued subpoena to “access data stored in the cloud” vs. needing a court order to search a PC’s hard drive [PC World]

A new study from TRUSTe shows that 80% of parents and 78% of teens think their information is protected on social networks…although it also shows that 68% of teens have accepted a friend request from someone they don’t know [CNET]

In the wake of yesterday/this past weekend’s latest Facebook privacy revelation, Congressmen Edward Markey and Joe Barton want answers from Facebook on when it happened, how many people were affected and how to fix it… [PC World]

But if they want to answer that last question, perhaps they would be interested in this video from those who revealed the “breach,” the Wall Street Journal [WSJ]

Either way, Facebook has vowed to “fix” this privacy problem, though it says it “will be a challenge” [NY Times]

And it disabled the offending apps in the meantime, including probably the most popular Facebook game, Farmville [USA Today]

While Rapleaf was one of the indicated beneficiaries of the Facebook privacy “breach,” apparently it doesn’t even need the revealed user IDs to construct a picture of a user, just an email address [GigaOm]

A NY judge has ruled that Google must reveal the identity of an “anonymous” (technically, psuedononymous…if that’s even a word) commenter who called a woman appearing in some of Columbia University’s YouTube videos a “whore” [Salon]

And finally, just now is the Spanish Data Protection Authority suing Google over its personal data collection fiasco of this past summer… [AFP]

Well, it actually happened. A “burglary ring” in New Hampshire actually used peoples’ Facebook Places check-ins to know when those people weren’t going to be home, so that they could rob the peoples’ houses. The ring took down 50 homes before police finally caught up to it! [TechCrunch]

So remember that digital billboard we mentioned recently (one week ago, to be exact) that’s carrying quite a controversial message about Google. Well, apparently Google won’t let Consumer Watchdog – the privacy group behind the billboard ad – buy search ads promoting the billboard [Huffington Post]

In response to Congress‘s discussions about placing restrictions on web advertisers, the e-commerce trade group (whatever that exactly means) NetChoice is claiming that doing so would “cripple” the online advertising industry… [PC World]

And speaking of online advertising, I believe we have mentioned this suit before, but two California teenagers’ parents are suing Facebook over “contextual” ads that use the teenagers pictures – you know the ads, they show you a friend of yours who “likes” whatever product/brand is being advertised (assuming I’m understanding it correctly). Could this case be the first time a court will force Facebook to change its advertising policies with respect to user privacy? [BNET]

Heretofore, Twitter hasn’t really had any privacy troubles, unlike it’s other social networking behemoth friend, Facebook. But, with the service planning to record all of the links you click, there are certainly some privacy implications if they don’t provide a way for you to purge this click log or somehow anonymize yourself [CNET]

It looks like Google is off the hook in New Zealand (I’m sure they’ll breathe a big sigh of relief) – the country’s law enforcement officials said today that Google’s “inadvertent” data collection did not violate any New Zealand laws [AFP]

One aspect of Apple‘s latest iTunes feature Ping that you may or may not have heard about is – simple privacy controls, that somewhat mirror those of Twitter [NY Times]

Some might say Zuckerberg wanting his privacy is ironic (and maybe it is just a little), but in this case, it’s not like he’s choosing to share these alleged private details with anyone, the man suing him is allegedly trying to force him to do so… [Reuters]

Congress has announced a petition in support of the Main Fairness Act, which would stop states from requiring internet merchants to report consumers’ purchases to state revenue agencies [Press Release]

Survey SAYS – teens don’t care about privacy…or perhaps don’t recognize it is the real implication [USA Today]

“FTC says current privacy laws aren’t working”…gee, what tipped you off? [CNET]

And apparently we’re not the only country that arguably has that problem – the EU is looking to update its data privacy and protection rules [ClickZ]

Reputation Defender, which helps you control your privacy online (ie, it’s not just a clever name), just raised $15 mil [TechCrunch]

Hackers aren’t the only ones who you should worry about when it comes to your privacy online… [WSJ]

Security vendor SMobile Systems estimates that about 20% of Android apps “can threaten privacy” [PC World]

To nail a couple of bank robbers last year, the FBI monitored about the locations of “about 180″ cell phones…to catch TWO people…oh right, and they didn’t have a warrant [CNET]

The House Judiciary subcommittee plans to discuss how location-based services threaten privacy tomorrow [Washington Post]