Six separate privacy stories are in the news this week, and CNET responded with four staff-written articles. At least three outlets ran Associated Press privacy stories. Wired News, usually on top of the subject, gave it a rest today. No outlet tried to put everything in perspective, though CNET produced a collection page to link their stories.

On Tuesday the Government Accounting Office issued a report lambasting the (lack of) privacy policies and practices on the government's own Web sites. On Wednesday an international privacy summit opened in Washington, D.C., focusing on the U.S. government's call for industry self-regulation. That same day the Privacy Foundation said Web sites should disclose their use of "Web bugs" to track visitors. And two privacy organizations loudly resigned from Amazon.com ( AMZN ) 's Associates program to protest the retailer's recent loosening of its privacy policies. CNET covered Microsoft (MSFT) 's recent spate of privacy surprises, including an Internet Explorer bug and an admission that the company tracks visitors across MSN Web properties. Finally, there's an AP story on the increasing ease of identity theft and one on new legislation to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

For Amazon, Honesty May Not Be the Best Policy
The Industry Standard

Shining the Privacy Spotlight
CNET

Failing the Privacy Test (AP)
ABC News

Privacy Groups Cut Amazon Ties (AP)
MSNBC

Personal Identity Theft on the Rise (AP)
USA Today

Subcommittee Passes Electronic Privacy Bill
USA Today

eMarketerNews - House Subcommittee Passes Electronic Privacy Law.

Seeking to put a crimp in the electronic monitoring activities of US law enforcers, a congressional subcommittee today passed legislation that would require investigators to show evidence before obtaining citizens' phone and e-mail records.

The House Judiciary Committee's Constitution Subcommittee unanimously approved the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 2000, which raises the "evidentiary standard" that law enforcers must meet when applying for court orders to monitor suspected criminals' phone and e-mail activities.

Release 1.0 -- Privacy Protection.

CNET.com - News - E-Business - Missouri files privacy suit against Net merchant.

The state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against Internet merchant More.com, accusing the site of giving personal information about consumers to third parties after promising it would not do so.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed the lawsuit Wednesday in Greene County Circuit Court against More.com, a business that sells health care and nutrition products through its Web site. The company also owns five online specialty stores, including Clearly Contacts for eye products and Acumins for vitamins.

Slashdot | Annoy.com Gag Order Lifted.

Slashdot | Ask Slashdot: Unintrusive Traffic Content Monitoring.

Slashdot | At the Library: a Briefly Vocal Minority. Thanks to a new Michigan law, all of our libraries have to address the question of minors and the internet -- and blocking software is, to many, the natural solution. I (ed. the author of the linked WWW site, not me) went to the Holland library's open board meeting on Tuesday night; here's what's up.

Political News from Wired News - ID Them By the Way They Walk. Future biometrics technology is expected to be able to identify people by their walking patterns. Law enforcement agencies might like it, but privacy advocates are on alert. Kathleen Ellis reports from the biometrics conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

JunkBusters - Amazon.com and Privacy. I (ed. the author of the linked WWW site, not me. but I do agreee with him ) write to tell you why I have become so disappointed with Amazon.com's privacy policy that I am cancelling my account and am terminating the participation of Junkbusters Corp. in Amazon's affiliate program. This letter also details several specific changes to Amazon's practices that would have to be made before I or my organization could recommend anyone buy from Amazon.

InfoWorld - Privacy group slams Amazon.com data policy.

Data rights watchdog Privacy International on Friday slammed changes in Amazon.com's policies for handling personal data.

The company's U.K. subsidiary, Amazon.co.uk, recently changed its privacy policy to warn customers that their personal data could be transferred outside the European Economic Area for processing.

Such data transfers may be in breach of European regulations on data privacy, which prohibit the transfer of personal data to jurisdictions with less strict privacy legislation, according to Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, in Washington.

"It's symptomatic of this anti-privacy disease in U.S. business, where they seem incapable of respecting customers' rights," Davies said in a phone interview Friday.

Counterpane Internet Security, Inc - Closing the Window of Exposure by Bruce Schneier .

The Internet is critical to business. Companies have no choice but to connect their internal networks to the rest of the world--to link with customers, suppliers, partners, and their own employees. But with that connection comes new threats: malicious hackers, criminals, industrial spies. These attackers regularly steal corporate assets and intellectual property, cause service breaks and system failures, mar corporate brands, and scare customers.

This document discusses how to deal with Internet security as a business problem: how to handle it in the same way as the rest of the corporate threats. Unless companies can successfully deal with those threats, they will never be able to unlock the full potential of the Internet. Companies that cannot adequately protect their customers and shareholders will fail, and those that can will succeed.

Slashdot | Security: The Window of Exposure.