I’ve seen the commentary on online privacy intensify the past few months. Facebook routinely changes its privacy policy it seems and Google has moved to one privacy policy for all of its applications. I think its good we hear about the privacy infractions by companies in the news, such as when the Sony database was hacked into and personal data was stolen from users. It really concerns me though about all the intrusions and privacy breaches that are not disclosed. Organizations need to start being more accountable for the client data they are charged with protecting and we need to start expecting more from the organizations we provide our personal information to. Users need to arm themselves to protect their information and identity, so its important to create awareness and give users tools to protect themselves. In that spirit here are some useful and informative links on online privacy.

 

The Sad State of Social Media Privacy Article & Infographic from Marketing Tech Blog/MDG Advertising.com

 

2012 Pew Internet report on Search Engine Use. Relates to personalized search being an invasion of privacy.

 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation proposed in 2010 a Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users. They again built on this theme by creating A Mobile User Privacy Bill of Rights earlier this month.

 

Here’s a wiki on How to Manage Facebook Privacy Options

 

The iLibrarian has a great post on this very topic which I am including below:

 

Are You In Control of Your Social Media Privacy? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Stephanie Buck at Mashable blogs about a recent infographic titled Social Media Management: Protect Your Privacy created by ZoneAlarm, based on a 2012 study by Pew

Do You Value Your Internet Privacy?
Alicia Eler at ReadWriteWeb takes a look at a recent study released by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) in which researchers investigated whether or not customers of online services would pay a mark-up to an online service provider who protected their information better.

Social Media Privacy: 3 Questions to Ask Before Authorizing Third-Party Apps
Jamie Beckland at Mashable talks about how best to insure your privacy on social sites and whether it’s a good idea to authorize outside apps to access your information.

Internet privacy a growing concern, Pew finds
Benny Evangelista, SFGate dicusses privacy with regard to search engines and whether or not people’s search histories are being tracked.

How Do We Explain Patron Privacy in a World of Target Markets?
Laura Crossett writes an insightful article about privacy and library patrons.