This is an interesting interview with Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission, regarding data protection and privacy.

Well worth a read.

It looks like the Americans are only just waking up to the implications of the new European data protection laws.

The European Union is considering far-reaching privacy regulations that would give the citizens of its member countries significant control over how Web sites and marketing companies collect and use data about them. European policy makers are proposing to harmonize new, tougher rules across the 27-member union.

Internet companies and the Obama administration are lobbying against some of the measures, which they argue would place onerous restrictions on services that people want to use and impede the sharing of information between Europe and the United States, particularly between law enforcement agencies. But privacy advocates say that those concerns are overblown and that most Internet companies and news sites would easily get the consent of users who already willingly hand them personal information.

Child safety online is one of the priorities of the Digital Agenda for Europe and many initiatives have been launched during the last year with the main purpose of protecting children. However, some people consider that these measures or legislations can compromise the freedom of the Internet and even kids' creativity.

At the beginning of 2012, the European Commission announced its Internet for Kids strategy; in November, Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, launched the European Financial Coalition against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Online; and in December, the Global Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Online was presented in partnership with the US.

The Federal Trade Commission, the U.S.'s chief privacy agency, issued a staff report recommending ways that key players in the rapidly expanding mobile marketplace can better inform consumers about their data practices.

The report makes recommendations for critical players in the mobile marketplace: mobile platforms (operating system providers, such as Amazon, Apple, BlackBerry, Google, and Microsoft), application (app) developers, advertising networks and analytics companies, and app developer trade associations.  

Most of the recommendations involve making sure that consumers get timely, easy-to-understand disclosures about what data they collect and how the data is used.

Angry Facebook and Instagram users have flooded message boards after being locked out of their accounts and receiving notification they had to submit Government ID which they presume was a scam.

Facebook, which is the parent company of photo-feed site Instagram, said the request was within their rights and would have been sent out due to a suspected violation of their terms of service by the account user.

Google is facing a legal battle from iPhone users in the UK who claim their online browsing habits were secretly tracked by the internet giant.  The landmark case could pave the way for up to 10 million Britons to sue Google for alleged privacy breaches.

A group of 12 people, all of whom use Apple devices, including the popular iPhone, are seeking damages in a case thought to be the first of its kind in the UK.