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, apparently 2011 is not just the year that we’ll likely see online privacy legislation, it’s also the year of the online privacy survey. Despite similar studies we mentioned recently that had disparate findings, the results of a recent Gallup poll show that 70% of Facebook users and 52% of Google users are concerned about their privacy… [USA Today]

And on another topic we’ve been mentioning with great frequency recently – Mozilla has made its intention to include a “Do Not Track” feature in the latest version of Firefox crystal clear over the past month. Now that Firefox 4 Beta has been released, we know that wasn’t just lip service… [Mashable]

Yesterday, we highlighted Mozilla’s efforts to give users the option of opting out of behavioral ad tracking through its popular Firefox web browser. Well, not to be left behind, Google gives users of its Chrome browser the same option… [Google Public Policy Blog]

But which of the two offers better protection? Well, you’ll probably have to try both to really find out for yourself, but privacy advocate group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation says ~ Mozilla > Google [EFF Deeplinks]

Google’s veritable shadow (and by that I mean the consumer privacy advocate, Consumer Watchdog) has now gone so far as to ask Congress to investigate the company’s “cozy” relationship with the Obama Administration, and how it may be affecting government regulation of the company… [NetworkWorld]

Finally, while we’re discussing the government and online privacy – the Justice Department is expected to announce its desire for ISPs to keep better track of what their customers are doing on the web, trying to “strike a better balance between privacy and police concerns”… [CNET]

Mozilla is apparently working on a new “Do Not Track” feature for its popular Firefox browser that will allow users to opt out of behavioral ad tracking…which is all well and good, but apparently, it’s not exactly the most effective solution… [PC World - "Do Not Track" Feature | Its Flaw(s)]

Inc. asks “is 2011 the Year of a Digital Privacy Revolution?” …and I think we can all agree that it’d be surprising if the answer wasn’t “yes”… [Inc.com]

And speaking (directly or indirectly) about privacy reform and potential legislation – the FTC has granted advertising trade groups an extension to facilitate further commenting on its privacy report, originally released late last year… [Mediapost]

Back to one of the two most polarizing companies when it comes to privacy – Facebook recently agreed to reconfigure its Friend Finder tool in response to complaints from a German privacy watchdog for “further transparency.” No idea what changes this exactly means or whether they will apply across countries or just for German Facebook users, but either way, another example of a country exerting its power over a private entity, as Germany and other countries have already done with Google… [Inside Facebook]

Google and Facebook have been the main privacy breaching culprits over the last year or so, though others have popped up here and there. This week, apparently it’s McDonald’s turn on the hot seat, in regards to its online ad targeting practices… [The Institute]

Oh, and about privacy scrutiny, Apple was recently the target of a class action based on iPhone/iPod/iPad apps that shared personal info with 3rd parties. But it may be in for more lawsuits than just the one… [CNET]

Contrary to an AFP report you might have read last week, Mozilla says it isn’t going to offer a “Do Not Track” feature in the next version of Firefox. In fact, it doesn’t think such an option is feasible right now, and it will work with the ad industry to ultimately provide something [ClickZ]

And while we’re on the subject – do we (consumers) actually even need a “Do Not Track” option? [US News & World Report]

Either way, if you’re really concerned about ad tracking, maybe a virtual private network is for you… [Huffington Post]

Finally, what will this year hold for online privacy? According to these predictions, it sounds like the self-regulation the internet has enjoyed for about the last 15 years is on the outs, in favor of government regulation [ClickZ]

Perhaps you heard a couple weeks back about the Gawker security breach, through which tons of registered users’ information was culled and posted publicly on the web for anyone to download. Well, apparently the same thing happened recently with Mozilla’s add-ons site… [SecurityWeek]

After such a year in online privacy, everyone should be acutely aware of the dangers of oversharing, or at least doing so publicly. In that spirit, here’s a reminder to check out what Facebook applications you have given access to your account over the last couple of years. Even the ones you don’t use could be sharing your info… [All Facebook]

Naturally, after a report in the Wall Street Journal recently about how iPhone apps are collecting/sharing personal info, Apple and a number of app makers have been hit with a class action suit alleging privacy violation… [Apple Insider]

Finally, here are a couple of articles taking a look back at all of the online privacy threats we saw/experienced in 2010, in case you missed any of them… [CNET | PC World via Network World]

The Wall Street Journal has somewhat taken it upon itself to become the privacy watchdog of daily media and has released numerous reports on services/apps that transmit personal information to 3rd parties. Over the weekend, it unmasked some more privacy offenders – this time the makers of the apps you use and love on your iPhone/Android, with Pandora being the biggest of the violators [WSJ]

As mentioned last week, the Commerce Department just released its privacy report/proposal and the basic recommendation was adherence to an online privacy “bill of rights” of sorts. Reacting to this report/proposal, the EFF applauds the spirit, but notes that self-regulation probably won’t be enough for the online advertising industry… [EFF]

And just in case we thought that industry would just take any regulations and run with them, actually, they’re well aware of the major impact “heavy-handed” regulation could have on the effectiveness of their business [MediaWeek]

And recently, Microsoft announced that Internet Explorer 9 will allow users innately to opt-out of 3rd party tracking in compliance with the FTC’s “Do Not Track” recommendation. Well, they’re not the only ones, as Mozilla announced that Firefox will soon allow users to do the same… [AFP]

While many claim that it’s difficult to opt-out of ad tracking, it actually isn’t as difficult as it’s made out to be, although it can be hard to find where to do so since most advertisers and publishers don’t make the pertinent info easy to find… [paidcontent.org]

Obviously if you’ve followed this blog or Google for any more than like a month, you’re fully aware of at least one class action lawsuit filed against the search giant alleging that it collected personal information unlawfully in violation of the Wiretap Act. Well, shockingly, Google is asking a judge to dismiss the class action arguing that what it did in fact did NOT violate the Wiretap Act [MediaPost]

In a similar vein – while Connecticut’s Attorney General has been trying to force Google to hand over data collected via Street View wi-fi “sniffing,” Google doesn’t seem to feel the need to do so… [paidcontent.org]

And finally, TheNextWeb brings this year in online privacy to a close with relatively comprehensive look at where we are now and where we are headed… [TheNextWeb]

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]