Internet companies have been in lawmakers sights lately over the treatment of information they gather from their surfers, and how well protected it really is. Essentially, these behavioral advertisers track where you have been and bring you related advertisement. That wouldn’t fly in real life, and people are tired of it happening online.

Lawmakers in the House are taking action. They are writing laws and other new documents that propose to limit the amount of unauthorized snooping that goes on when Internet companies look at your browsing histories. They also wish to educate the public on how they could better protect themselves while online.

While the bill is being debated in congress, there is not enough energy to go all around, with health care and energy conservation taking up most of the floor time. The issue isn’t pigeonholed though, and it will up for consideration next year.

Google, Yahoo, and other search engines and sites to be affected by this bill are a bit torn on where they stand: they want people to have their privacy, but at the same time, they make money through these advertisers.

Long gone are the days when two warring factions would line up to face each, announce a start, and then enter the hectic fray. Nowadays, the “old war” of guns, blood, and violence is taking a backseat to a new kind of war: a virtual one.

This new modern warfare occurs on the Internet, and the winner isn’t the one with the least dead or the last standing; he is the one with the enemy Intel stored away nice and safe. In order to protect itself, the U.S. will need a vast and in-depth monitoring system, and we might find an extension of the Patriot Act in the works.

Last month, President Obama unveiled this huge new Internet security overhaul. He insists that all civil liberties will be upheld during any surveillance the system will be doing. His senior officials however, think that the complete upholding of all privacy laws will be difficult to do, when scanning every virtual nook and cranny to scout out terrorist activity.

The National Security Agency (NSA) is the branch that is going to spearhead the virtual protection of the U.S. This agency has been in a bit of controversy in the past for supposed privacy invasion. The nation’s security is not a matter to be taken lightly though, and they can justify every action they make. Some have just felt that they have been a bit more invasive than they need to be.

This world is all about one thing, information. Every time you connect to the Internet, your every action is being watched, logged and saved in databases all over the world. Most of the time, almost always actually, the information is perfectly harmless and can serve to make your surfing a more enjoyable and quicker experience, However, there are times when knowing how to protect your Internet Privacy as well as knowing when and where you are at risk can be an invaluable bit of knowledge.

Online business, activities and transactions are increasing exponentially each year. That means that a ton of money is flowing through this virtual world, and where there is a lot of money, usually, there is a lot of greed as well. Some people will do anything to make a quick buck, so the average consumer needs to be on guard. Unfortunately, many people are still in the dark when in comes to staying safe online. Everyday, there are more and more people who become victims of internet fraud and scams because they have neglected to take online security seriously.

A recent report by Government Computer News sheds light on a topic that millions of people all over the world deal with on a regular basis: Internet privacy and security in the hotel industry. People have many different reasons to travel, but with the modern tech-era upon us one of the most frequently asked questions when booking a hotel is: “Do you have Internet?” That answer is most likely a, “yes.”

Beginning this month, many news sources (including Cnet and PC Magazine) have been reporting on the Chinese version of Skype that spies on certain “sensitive words” and blocks them from servers if needed. Skype is a software that allows you to make phone calls over the Internet and use your computer’s microphone and speakers to communicate with others. It is sort of like a beefed up version of AIM, but along with instant messaging allows you to video conference and make phone calls.

With recent blog posts about the Virginia Watchdog and PulaskiWatch, it was only a matter of time before someone had their identity stolen due to the negligence of county clerks posting sensitive information. Computerworld reported on a Ohio woman suing the county clerk after her identity was stolen. An image of a speeding ticket, containing her personal information, was posted on the county website.

Reported by the Wall Steet Journal:

The Department of Homeland Security will begin the first phase of a satellite surveillance program. Surprisingly, the department has not guaranteed or ensured that the program will not break any privacy laws. The spy program, known as the National Applications Office, is meant to provide government officials (on multiple levels) with access to satellite imagery. This pertains to security needs, such as identifying weaknesses at borders and ports, and was also created with the intentions of assisting emergency response.

Computerworld reported that an upset Arkansas man has posted sensitive information on his website, PulaskiWatch. The information was found via public records and consisted of e-mails between nine government officials, including the county clerk. This privacy issue may seem a little familiar as the Virginia Watchdog (which, coincidentally, does not seem to be working) also posted sensitive information on government officials in Virginia.

Reuters and Yahoo! News report that Google has agreed to cut the amount of time it stores users’ web surfing habits from 18 month to only nine months. This is quite a significant drop, especially when taking into account that in March 2007 Google had no policy and kept the information for an indefinite period of time. Google’s new policies, “are part of a broader trend that is increasing across the industry for companies to compete in good privacy practices,” according to Google’s global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer.

Along with the new nine month data retention policy, Google plans to anonymize the data much more quickly. Could this be in response to the Viacom/YouTube issue? This is is a great precautionary measure to protect our Internet privacy from companies like Viacom that want to sue Google so they can obtain users’ records. After nine months the data and the IP address are disassociated and the data can no longer be tracked back to a specific user.

The move to an 18-month data retention policy came about due to the European Union putting pressure on Google to increase their privacy measures. The new nine-month policy was adapted to further refine Google’s privacy protection and keep users much safer while surfing the Internet. The new nine month policy makes Google the alpha male, as far as privacy is concerned. Microsoft still keeps data for 18 months and Yahoo! currently retains data for 13 months.

While this is good news for anyone who surfs the Internet, it is important to remember that your data is being tracked and recorded. Data retention policies are extremely helpful, but ultimately privacy must begin with you. Using an anonymous proxy server will help you be invisible and maintain anonymity while surfing and stay one step ahead of even the most favorable data retention policies.