As we’ve mentioned a few times recently, the EU has proposed a privacy regulation that would take effect in a couple of months that includes a “right to be forgotten” – essentially a user’s right to have his/her information/image taken down from any site he/she wishes. But it sounds like not everyone in the EU is on board, as the UK’s Communications Minister recently cautioned that the regulation might have unintended and overly burdensome consequences… [Financial Times]

And we don’t necessarily often talk about the misconceptions users have about their digital privacy (and specifically ad tracking), but we are more than aware of them. If you’re interested in understanding them better yourself, this might be a good place to start… [AdExchanger]

At this point, every web, mobile or social service ought to be thinking about privacy and security long and hard given the current climate. And that apparently includes Skype, which privacy watchdog organization, Privacy International, claims is exposing users’ privacy due to a couple of security issues that make it easy to impersonate a Skype user… [TG Daily]

The other day we highlighted how the online marketplace Etsy made an unfortunate mistake, exposing certain sensitive information about users to the public at large. Well, if you’re an Etsy user who wants to hide that “sensitive information,” here are your step-by-step instructions… [Business Insider]

Last week, we also mentioned how the EU has proposed a new privacy regulation that should take effect later in the year that will require all online entities that are accessible by EU users to explicitly obtain users’ permission to be tracked, among other things…and in case there was any confusion, the regulation will apply even to sites/services based outside of the EU that have users in the EU… [WSJ]

And, of course, that includes Facebook, where EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding hinted that EU users should have a “right to be forgotten,” or essentially the right to control what appears on Facebook about/involving them… [paidcontent.org]

Finally, we mentioned on Monday that Microsoft had finally released its latest version of Internet Explorer – IE9 – which brought with it improved privacy controls and the ability to opt out of 3rd party ad tracking. Well, apparently the browser’s new version was downloaded 2.35 million times in just 24 hours… [Mashable]

We’ve seen a lot of industry players recently calling for the online ad industry to regulate its own practices, in order to avoid government imposed regulation. Well, the latest to call for that self-regulation is none other than director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection, David Vladeck… [Mediapost]

But while most of the discussion and scrutiny in the online privacy realm (specifically with respect to legislation) has come from our side of the Atlantic, apparently the EU is actually proposing a new law that would require EU websites to get explicit permission from users in order to “track” them… [TechCrunch]

Finally, apparently there are sites/companies out there that pay users a commission every time they allow themselves to be tracked by advertisers…so, the Wall Street Journal is wondering – “would you sell your private information to advertisers?” [WSJ]

We mentioned a Firefox add-on recently that not only blocks advertisements for users, but also ensures that such ads don’t “track” their movement online. Well, Firefox creators, Mozilla, are apparently planning a “do not track” feature for the browser themselves [WSJ]

Regardless, at some point after the tomorrow’s “Do Not Track” hearing, we may not even need a Firefox add-on to opt-out of online ad tracking… [MediaWeek]

And now that the EU is publicly discussing what it had been previously reported as pondering – the “right to be forgotten” online – the same may be able to be said for our European friends at some point in the relatively near future [WSJ]

And speaking of “online tracking,” interesting to know that by integrating a Facebook “Like” button into content, site owners are allowing Facebook to track users whether they are Facebook members or not [ThinQ]

And while we’re talking about Facebook and privacy – we know Facebook has been the subject of several lawsuits for its privacy controls, but typically those are based on people asserting that they are not strong enough. In this lawsuit, someone is actually suing Facebook for HAVING privacy controls. Of course, it’s a patent infringement suit, but if I told you that first, the last part of that last sentence probably wouldn’t have been as appropriate… [TechCrunch]

Last link involving Facebook in any way, I promise (for today, anyway) – why the anti-Facebook, “Diaspora”  won’t be anything like Facebook and probably won’t even move the needle much in terms of alternative networks [CNN]

And finally, consumer privacy lessons from the latest Wikileaks fiasco (which you can read more about, here)… [Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society]

Yesterday, a draft summary of the Commerce Department‘s broad recommendations on “internet privacy oversight” was leaked and posted by an industry publication. Among them is a stronger rulemaking and enforcement role for the FTC [Washington Post]

Somewhat unofficial research conducted by security/privacy vendor TRUSTe revealed that over half of users clicked on an icon placed on Publisher’s Clearinghouse’s website that promised to explain more about how ads were presented to them on the site, and offering them the chance to opt out, indicating that such icons could be a successful tool for the ad industry, which has had trouble “policing” itself [NY Times]

While no one has really questioned email providers like Google who “scan users emails” to provide relevant in-email ads, the EU just voted to approve a report condemning the practice [paidcontent.org]

Last week, we mentioned that there was some concern that Microsoft‘s Kinect could present some privacy problems because of its built-in camera. Well, a Microsoft exec remarked late last week that the company might provide advertisers data about users so it can cater the ads users see to them personally…similar to what Google and other email providers do with email, as mentioned above [Engadget]

And finally, while some think a “right to be forgotten” may not be a realistic expectation for users in the US, privacy advocates are at least pushing for a “do not track” universal opt-out of online ad tracking registry [San Jose Mercury News]

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]