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]

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]

It just never seems to end for Google and privacy. Frankly, we could probably dedicate an entire blog to just the web giant and its privacy trials and tribulations. But as for the former – trials – apparently in a case that’s the first of its kind, Spain’s Data Protection Agency is suing Google on behalf of about 90 Spanish citizens who want links to information about them that Google has indexed taken down… [AP]

But it isn’t just Spain that’s less than thrilled with Google lately. Yesterday, we mentioned how The Netherlands was the latest country to take issue with its 2010 Street View chicanery. Today, we want to highlight how on Monday, the FTC “called out” Google for being the only major browser that has yet to adopt “Do Not Track” technology – something Firefox, Internet Explorer, and even Safari have rolled out to users… [ComputerWorld]

And yet, despite all of it, Google apparently is atop the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s new privacy report card, along with Amazon and Twitter… [ZDNet]

Oh, and just to update you on something we mentioned yesterday – Sophos’ open letter to Facebook, and Facebook’s latest privacy improvements – not surprisingly, Sophos was underwhelmed by Facebook’s efforts… [eWeek]

So, I’m not sure this should really shock iPhone owners, if they think about the services/apps their iPhone provides, but it was revealed yesterday that your iPhone tracks your every move, with timestamps, in a “secret” file that gets transferred to your computer’s hard drive when you plug your iPhone in to it… [Guardian]

And one person who was particularly concerned with this revelation apparently was Senator Al Franken, recently tapped to head the Senate’s new Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, who wrote Apple a letter pointing out the dangers of storing this information on phones unencrypted, and posed a series of corrollary questions for the company… [AdWeek]

So, as we mentioned last week, Google finally resolved its dispute with the FTC over its Google Buzz introduction last year and the privacy violations that came with it. But not everyone was pleased with the result…the Electronic Privacy Information Center (the privacy advocacy group that filed the original complaint), in conjunction with a number of its brethren, is a little less than enthused that it isn’t slated to receive any of the $8.5 million Google agreed to pay out as part of the settlement… [Ars Technica]

Speaking of privacy advocacy groups, Consumer Watchdog apparently just introduced (in conjunction with CA Senator Alan Lowenthal) a privacy bill for California that would “allow consumers in the state to stop unwanted online tracking”…and it did so today specifically to challenge new Google CEO Larry Page on privacy… [Press Release]

Finally, if you’ve received emails from Tivo, Marriot Rewards, Capital One, Citi, Disney or a number of other businesses, your email may have been compromised. Apparently the vendor that handles email marketing (or at least the databases) for the aforementioned clients (and others) had its database breached over the weekend, exposing many users email addresses… [TechCrunch]

We know the FTC has been an extremely active voice in the digital privacy debate, unveiling its privacy proposal that included the infamous “Do Not Track” several months back. But while it may lack the authority to regulate a section of those who might be able to help protect users privacy (their mobile providers), it does claim jurisdiction over application developers, potentially protecting users on at least one mobile front… [Mediapost]

And that probably sounds even better when I mention this recent survey that asserts we as mobile phone users are entirely too nonchalant about our mobile security/privacy… [Mashable]

And even BETTER when you read this article about how much geolocation data your mobile provider may or may not be storing about you… [NY Times]

Finally, today in company’s asking government to allow them to self-regulate as opposed to subjecting them to government imposed regulation – Microsoft recently laid out its policy for retaining/disposing of Bing users’ IP addresses after six months (and cookies after 18 months), which it believes could be a shining example of how to “do privacy right”… [NetworkWorld]

Well, Google probably could have cautioned online marketplace site Etsy against this move (since it was similar to the way Google rolled out Buzz last year)…nevertheless, Etsy yesterday made all of its users’ activity on the site public by default… [Business Insider]

But almost as soon as it flipped that switch on, it realized the error it had made and switched it back off… [Etsy]

Yesterday, the FTC settled its complaint with Twitter over what it deemed to be insufficient security measures that led to Twitter users accounts being hacked in the past. As part of the settlement, Twitter has agreed to “establish a more rigorous information-security policy to prevent user accounts from being hijacked” in the future… [eWeek]

But Twitter isn’t the only party the FTC settled with yesterday. The Commission also settled a complaint with the online ad provider Chitika, in which it had charged that the service was continuing to track users who had actually opted out of their tracking… [Washington Post]

And finally, Microsoft launched the latest version of Internet Explorer – IE 9 – yesterday, which as we’ve been mentioning for far too long here also includes a feature that allows users to opt out of ad tracking… [WSJ]

But if you’re not interested in using IE 9, you can still disable third party (tracking) cookies in Firefox and Chrome…here’s how… [CNET]

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]

The big privacy news at the end of last week was Facebook rolling out a new privacy policy that – pursuant to its recent response to the FTC in which it agreed that “any privacy framework must be implemented in a way that both honors consumers’ expectations in the contexts in which they use online services and promotes the innovation that has fueled the growth of the Internet of the past two decades” – makes it more readable (in theory, anyway) for the lay person… [Mashable]

And if it isn’t, Facebook wants to know…and they want to hear it from you, the user… [All Facebook]

Elsewhere in Facebook and privacy, the social network is apparently considering whether or not it should allow developers to access its minor users’ (those under 18, just so we’re clear) cell phone numbers and addresses… [LA Times]

We’ve mentioned throughout the past couple of months the advertising industry’s disdain for the FTC’s privacy policy, and specifically the “Do Not Track” element of its proposal, but as Microsoft’s corporate VP of advertising and publisher solutions recently told a group of digital ad industry execs – [if they really want a favorable outcome for themselves on the issue of privacy and user tracking on the web] the industry ought to just start policing itself… [WSJ]

Which, coincidentally, the industry may have already started to do now that the Interactive Advertising Bureau has given its constituents six months to comply with its own privacy code of conduct… [ClickZ]

Perhaps you’ve noticed the recent change Google made across its services in the form of the new nav bar at the top of your screen. Well, this nav bar is actually (at least according to Google) aimed at helping users see how they identify themselves when they are using Google services, so they can change those settings as they see fit… [Search Engine Watch]

And while we’re mentioning Google, at the end of last week, we noted how recently, Google asked kids for their social security numbers in order to participate in its “Doodle 4 Google” contest…well, Congress has now decided to look into the matter, led by the online privacy-focused Joe Barton and Edward Markey… [National Journal]

Well, while Israel wonders about the privacy implications of Google Street View (which we mentioned it was doing the other day), Switzerland’s court is actually about to decide whether or not Google broke Swiss law with its Street View wi-fi sniffing incident from last year… [WSJ]

But that’s not the only hot water Google has found itself in recently. Apparently it also recently held a contest for kids called “Doodle 4 Google” that required those kids to submit their social security numbers in order to enter. It was the fourth annual iteration of the contest, but apparently only the first time Google ever asked for social security numbers… [NY Mag]

Facebook and the government haven’t had exactly the smoothest relationship over the last year or so, and recently, the FTC had asked Facebook to provide clarity on its privacy practices. And as of yesterday the FTC got an answer… [Huffington Post]

Elsewhere in FTC land, in a move that should surprise no one, a group of advertisers and marketers has asked the FTC to allow them to regulate themselves and scrap its privacy proposal, which infamously includes the “Do Not Track” concept… [Nextgov]

Ever since the FTC issued its privacy report a couple of months back, it has become increasingly obvious that the government is looking to introduce legislation to protect us as we navigate these here interwebz. And one of the most discussed ways to help do that is the idea of “Do Not Track.” Well, if you thought it was going to take longer than six weeks into the new year to see the first “Do Not Track” bill hit the floor, think again… [The Hill]

The ACLU announced a new privacy-focused initiative last Friday that it’s calling, “Develop for Privacy.” Not just a clever name, the idea is to encourage mobile applications developers to build mobile tools that will help users protect their own privacy while using their mobile devices… [NetworkWorld]

We talk a lot about protecting your own privacy on the web, but what really are all the types of privacy threats you might have to protect yourself against? Here’s a good primer… [Fast Company]

And in the same vein, here are “10 Facebook Privacy Settings Every User Should Know”… [Mashable]

But speaking of actual privacy threats – a “fake” dating site apparently recently lifted personal information from about a million Facebook users in order to construct “fake” profiles on its own site, without permission from the users OR Facebook… [Business Insider]

And finally – on Friday we mentioned that Congress sent Facebook a letter about that short period of time when it had given developers access to users’ phone numbers and addresses, and about not allowing Facebook to become a “phonebook,” which also included 11 questions about said developer access (or lack thereof, since Facebook cut that access off shortly after it was granted). Well, we didn’t mention it Friday, but it seems they are looking for an answer at some point in the next two weeks… [PC World]