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]

With Microsoft now integrating privacy-focused tools into IE9, and generally showing an openness to self-regulation when it comes to privacy, the heat may be on its giant brethren Google (which hasn’t exactly been a paragon of privacy protection) and Apple (which hasn’t been part of the privacy conversation at all so far) to follow suit… [paidcontent.org]

But again, if IE isn’t your browser of choice, and you’re a Firefox user, there are already add-ons you can use to block ad tracking, and here’s the latest add-on in that vein – “Do Not Track Plus,” which implements the “Do Not Track” feature as proposed by the FTC a couple of months back… [PC World]

And as for Apple and privacy, since its browser Safari blocks 3rd party cookies that advertisers typically use to track users, and Safari is the default browser on all of its iOS devices, clicks from paid search advertisements go uncounted about 80% of the time when the click comes from a user on an iOS device (according to a recent study conducted by Marin Software)… [TechCrunch]

A couple of days ago, we mentioned how Senators John McCain and John Kerry were attempting to introduce a digital privacy bill of rights…well, it seems our fearless leader (or at least his administration) supports that concept and effort… [WSJ]

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]

The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a second hearing on online privacy for next Wednesday, the goal of which is apparently to understand whether or not government intervention is necessary in order to properly protect our privacy on the web… [The Hill]

We’ve mentioned several times recently that Microsoft’s upcoming latest version of its Internet Explorer browser (IE9) would emphasize privacy controls, including potentially the ability to opt out of ad tracking. Well, we now know that we can expect to find out what exactly that all looks like next Monday, March 14… [Microsoft IE Blog]

Yesterday, we mentioned how the EU just approved a law that would require all sites to get explicit permission from users in order to “track” them using cookies. Later, Gizmodo explained just how silly and pointless such an effort would be… [Gizmodo]

Finally, no stranger to litigation, Google may find itself in another courtroom to defend itself against a plaintiff who is displeased with its practice of scanning gmail users’ mail in order to serve them relevant ads. Of course, this is not a new issue for Google to deal with, but nevertheless, it happened… [InformationWeek]

Ok, so, as we mentioned yesterday, and have been following for a little over a month now, Facebook has been planning to allow developers access to users’ addresses and phone numbers. And despite the wealth of public concern that rippled all the way up to Congress, and resulted in Facebook nixing the access after just a few days in January, it’s apparently going to move forward and allow that same access once anew… [paidcontent.org]

And the new version of Internet Explorer (IE9) that we’ve noted recently will have increased user privacy controls, including the ability to opt out of ad/behavioral tracking will apparently be released in a little over a week, on March 14th…or it could be a little over a week after that on March 24th… [Gizmodo]

Recently we noted that Microsoft had announced that it will be including the ability for users to block certain sites, or all sites, from “tracking” them using tracking cookies…apparently that and the other built-in privacy controls were enough to gain acceptance by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which “develops standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web”… [CrunchGear]

And yesterday we mentioned that Google was going to find out where it netted out in its dispute with the Swiss government over its Street View photos. Apparently the Swiss court asked it to guarantee that it will blur 100% of all license plates and faces in its Street View images…but, Google wasn’t quite thrilled to hear that and pointed out that having to do so would require manually reviewing every Street View picture tile that makes up Switzerland’s street view… [PC Mag]

As we mentioned yesterday, Microsoft will be including a “Do Not Track” feature in its forthcoming Internet Explorer 9. And yesterday, PC World sat down with Microsoft’s Corporate VP in charge of IE, Dean Hachamovitch, to talk about that and other browser privacy issues/features… [PC World]

And one thing we missed yesterday was that with digital privacy at the forefront of legislative efforts right now, the Senate has created a new subcommittee panel, chaired by Minnesota’s Al Franken, covering “Privacy, Technology and the Law”… [AFP]

The biggest news in privacy today comes from Washington DC, where on Friday, California Congresswoman Jackie Speier introduced the bill we’ve all been anticipating – the now-infamous “Do Not Track,” which the FTC even last week just said it would seek to impose if the online ad industry didn’t start to regulate itself… [Mashable]

Which warrants some commentary, artfully crafted by the inimitable paidcontent.org – “Three Reasons Why A ‘Do Not Track’ Bill WILL Pass This Year”… [paidcontent.org]

Elsewhere in CA on the privacy front – the CA Supreme Court just ruled that retailers and other vendors (in CA) can no longer ask users for their zip codes when using their credit cards for purchases… [LA Times]

And finally, in browser privacy news, apparently Microsoft is close to releasing the latest version of its Internet Explorer browser, which will include more privacy controls, though I’m not entirely sure what those will be since the majority of this article is hidden behind the Wall Street Journal’s paywall… [WSJ]

The news that made a relatively big splash on Friday was that President Obama is hoping to work out a program to assign all internet-using Americans a unique ID. The initiative will be led by the Commerce Department… [CBS News]

Last week at CES, veteran tech journalist Walt Mossberg spoke with Microsoft’s head of Internet Explorer, Dean Hachamovitch, and the biggest topic of discussion (unsurprisingly) was privacy… [Mashable]

And finally, in case we hadn’t made it clear, or you hadn’t noticed on your own – the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which still governs privacy over electronic communications (ie, discourse on the internet, is being far outpaced by the speed of technology/digital [NY Times]

Well, last week the FTC made a huge splash with its privacy proposal that contained what has become the ever-contentious “Do Not Track” notion. This week, Microsoft announced, or at least committed that it wouldn’t wait for legislation to integrate a “Do Not Track” function into Internet Explorer 9 [eWeek]

Which prompted privacy advocate group, Consumer Watchdog to apparently issue a press release indicating that it applauded Microsoft, but still thinks “Do Not Track” legislation is necessary…shocking revelation, I know… [Press Release]

And of course, hot on the heels of FTC’s privacy proposal, apparently the Commerce Department will be issuing a privacy proposal of its own sometime in the coming weeks… [Bloomberg]