A German court rejected eight out of 15 provisions in Apple’s general privacy policy and terms of data use on Tuesday, claiming that the practices of the Cupertino, Calif., company deviate too much from German laws, according to the Federation of German Consumer Association (VZBV).

According to German law, recognized consumer groups can sue companies over illegal terms and conditions. Apple asks for "global consent" to use customer data on its website, but German law insists that clients know specific details about what their data will be used for and why.

The Australian Government's plans for a data breach notification scheme have been shared with a small number of key stakeholders as a draft exposure bill, marked as Confidential.

Under the draft legislation, the Federal Government would consider a data breach to be serious if an organisation is delinquent in its requirements under the new Australian Privacy Principles to take reasonable steps to secure customer personal information.  The breached data, lost or stolen, would need to expose customers to a "real risk of serious harm" and could be subject to unauthorised access or disclosure.

The UK government is one of the most vociferous critics of the EC draft data protection Regulation which aims to create a new harmonised European data protection framework. However it is certainly not the only government, nor the only regulatory authority to suggest that some of the key proposals in the regulation are either overly prescriptive or simply unworkable.

As Facebook prepares Graph Search for wide release, some have concerns about the privacy issues the new feature raises.  How can you be sure only your friends will see your name during searches?

After all, more than a quarter of Facebook users share information with an audience much wider than their social circle. And 13 million users haven't even touched their privacy settings.

GroupOn competitor LivingSocial has been hacked and 50 million user accounts have been breached. The attackers were able to access informing including names, email addresses, date of birth for some users, and passwords, which fortunately were hashed and salted.

The database that stores customer credit card information was not accessed by the attacker, the company said.

The survey, conducted by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future and Bovitz Inc., reveals a "Millennial Rift" - distinct differences in online behavior and core values among Millennials compared to other users, many of whom are only a few years older.

Millennials, the survey found, report more willingness to allow access to their personal data or web behavior and a greater interest in cooperating with Internet businesses -- as long as they receive tangible benefits in return.