Marc Rotenberg

Google is getting plenty of backlash from privacy advocates. Just a week after the search giant launched Google Buzz social features in its Gmail service, the Federal Trade Commission is receiving accusations about violations of federal consumer-protection laws.

Internet search giant Google has tapped government agencies to help the company find the person or people responsible for a recent cyberattack. But privacy advocates are not happy with the backdoor partnership between Google and government authorities.

Google is working with the National Security Administration (NSA), according to published reports. While the company admits it's working with relevant U.S. authorities on the cyberattack, Google would not disclose which agencies are involved.

Nearly two months after being sued for removing electronic books from Kindle owners' devices without their knowledge, Amazon has agreed to a settlement. The Internet retailer will pony up $150,000 to settle the class-action suit.

The first complaint filed against Amazon came from 17-year-old Justin Gawronski. The high-school student from Michigan sued after Amazon erased copies of author George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984 along with notes on the book from his Kindle in July.

The impetus to regulate online marketing may be gathering steam. On June 18 a House of Representatives subcommittee held a hearing to take a closer look at how advertisers gather and use information on consumers' Web-surfing habits.

Personal computers sold in China will have to include blocking software, beginning July 1. The directive from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Beijing has gone to manufacturers, but hasn't been made public.

The directive aims to block users from specific sites and content, including pornography, according to Jinhui Computer Systems Engineering, the software maker. But foreign industry officials who viewed the software told The Wall Street Journal the move will give the Chinese government even more control over what users are viewing on the Internet.

Personal computers sold in China will have to include blocking software, beginning July 1. The directive from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Beijing has gone to manufacturers, but hasn't been made public.

The directive aims to block users from specific sites and content, including pornography, according to Jinhui Computer Systems Engineering, the software maker. But foreign industry officials who viewed the software told The Wall Street Journal the move will give the Chinese government even more control over what users are viewing on the Internet.

The Federal Trade Commission is being asked to investigate Internet search giant Google for a lack of security in its cloud-computing services, a framework of software and services in which applications and data reside on third-party servers that provide remote access through Web-based devices.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a Washington, D.C.-based public-interest group, filed the complaint and is asking for an injunction by the FTC to stop Google from offering any of its cloud services until the FTC has investigated Google's safeguarding of consumers' information.

Google's new telephone service, Google Voice, is receiving generally positive reviews from industry analysts. Some of the features, however, are raising potentially troubling legal issues.

Nearly two years ago, Google bought Grand Central, an Internet-based phone service, and opened it up to a limited number of beta testers. Over the following months, users got increasingly impatient with the lack of new features or upgrades to the service.

Yahoo on Wednesday announced a new data-retention policy, but on Thursday privacy experts were still scratching their heads about what the policy really means.

Although it appeared Yahoo was setting an industry standard for data retention with a promise to anonymize user log data within 90 days (with limited exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations), privacy advocates say the announcement isn't clear.

Yahoo on Wednesday announced a new data-retention policy, but on Thursday privacy experts were still scratching their heads about what the policy really means.

Although it appeared Yahoo was setting an industry standard for data retention with a promise to anonymize user log data within 90 days (with limited exceptions for fraud, security and legal obligations), privacy advocates say the announcement doesn't make clear whether Yahoo is really protecting users' privacy any better than its rivals.