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]
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