Internet privacy

Just three days after Google launched its answer to Facebook and Twitter, the search giant announced changes in Google Buzz to address some privacy concerns.

The option to share Gmail information with other users is still the default setting, but the box to uncheck for more privacy has now been added more prominently to the Google profile that users must have to use the service. If they don't uncheck, anyone who searches a user's name or e-mail can have access to the user's most frequent contacts.

Easier Blocking

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's assertion that the public is largely giving up concerns about privacy in favor of more online sharing has caused a stir and ignited debate in the tech world. The social-networking giant has persistently clashed with privacy advocates in court.

Among the dissenters is a Stanford law professor who researches and lectures on Internet privacy. He said Zuckerberg's assessment conflicts with recent academic findings.

The Web sites computer users visit, the search queries they conduct and the products they buy -- along with all the personal details they reveal on social networking pages -- can give companies insight into what Internet ads they might be interested in seeing.

But privacy watchdogs warn that too many people have no idea that Internet marketers are tracking their online habits and then mining that data to serve up targeted pitches -- a practice known as behavioral advertising.

Yahoo has announced that it will no longer hold some personally identifiable search information for more than 90 days. The company is hoping that the new policy will give it a competitive advantage with users who care about privacy. It also is an encouraging development for the cause of Internet privacy.

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Google is seeking to draw clear distinctions between the methods it uses to target ad placements based on search queries and a controversial data-mining practice known as deep-packet inspection. The deep-packet technique gathers and stores information on an individual's Web-site visits and Internet usage without first obtaining the user's consent.

Congress has asked Embarq Corp. about its work with a company that tracks online subscribers' Web traffic for advertising purposes, part of growing concern about Internet privacy.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Embarq is the nation's fourth-largest traditional telephone company with 1.34 million high-speed Internet subscribers in 14 states. It has been linked in the past with NebuAd Inc., a company that works with Internet service providers to tailor targeted ads based on what Web sites a particular subscriber visits.

The Federal Trade Commission is getting an earful about Internet privacy. The opinions on the FTC's proposed self-regulatory principles to govern online advertising vary widely, with Microsoft taking bold steps to suggest an approach it deems "comprehensive."