excerpt via Exchangewire:    Privacy awareness body Truste has today (28 January) released its annual Consumer Confidence Index, revealing 60% of participants in the survey were more concerned about their online privacy compared to 12 months ago, with 89% actively “avoiding” companies they don’t believe protect their privacy adequately....However, it seems that contagion has spread to the private sector too, as there are three times as many survey participants concerned about companies

 “The Federal Trade Commission’s investigation of Apple sheds light on a growing practice that poses risks to children and families,” commented Jeff Chester, Executive Director of the Center for Digital Democracy.  “Children are spending increasing amounts of time with mobile apps, generating potentially huge profits for the rapidly expanding gaming and app industries.  In-app purchasing is becoming the dominant business model in many online games and other children’s entertainment content on mobile phones, tablets and gaming devices.  Yet the techniques used to trigger these purchases are,

A report written by Ed Mierzwinski of USPIRG and Jeff Chester of CDD.

Washington, DC: Over 20 public health, media, youth, and consumer advocacy groups sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today objecting to Facebook’s recent proposed changes to its privacy policy. The groups raised concerns about the potential negative impact of these changes on teens.