While most social networks offer enhanced privacy settings, which will allow you to keep your profiles private, there are a handful of things you can do to make your accounts less accessible and susceptible to searches made by your new guy's ex or an old friend you don't want to have to ignore online. Check out these tips on staying private online. Create an Alternate Email Address For Account Read more

It seems like Google is getting (more) serious about perceived privacy problems with its service; after announcing last week it planned to simplify privacy policies, Google has reportedly paid $8.5 million in a class-action lawsuit. The suit alleged that the initial configuration of Google Buzz violated user privacy. For more details on the suit and Google's rocky history with Buzz, keep reading. Read more

After attacks on its privacy polices — from issues with Google Buzz to the creepy anti-Google video put out by Consumer Watchdog — Google says it will simplify its privacy policies to help consumers better understand them. A Google blog post calls many privacy policies "long, complicated, and lawerly," vowing to make its policies "more transparent and understandable." Get the lowdown on all Read more

As concerns over Internet privacy mount, one anti-Google group has taken its message to the streets — literally. Consumer Watchdog, which recently launched a campaign called "Do Not Track Me," made a video featuring an animated version of Google's CEO Eric Schmidt and is playing it on a Times Square billboard 36 times a day. The group, which alleges that Google has collected too much data via Read more

Sign online in the morning and it's likely your first stop of the day is a social network. We pour our lives into these digital communities, sharing party photos, funny videos, and clever status updates. Do you know who's looking at all these updates, though? Take today's Spring cleaning tips as the chance to finally update your social media privacy settings and take charge of the online image Read more

Protect yourself by learning what identity thieves are up to with this helpful Business Insider story. More than 11.6 million consumers reported identity theft in 2011, a 13 percent jump over the year prior and a figure that's likely to rise as we continue our love affair with digital banking. MoneyGram, the second largest money transfer business in the US, has learned a thing or two about the Read more

This week, the White House announced a framework to protect consumer privacy in the digital age of smartphones and constant Internet access. The voluntary corporate guidelines called the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights "give consumers clear guidance on what they should expect from those who handle their personal information, and set expectations for companies that use personal data." For now, Read more

It's Data Privacy Day, so we're here to give you 10 tips to keeping your computer safe, secure, and totally private. Nothing is worse than having your computer hacked into, your personal information stolen, or becoming a victim of fraud. We've rounded up all of our best tech advice to help keep your computer protected and free from hacker malice. If you haven't implemented these 10 tidbits yet, Read more

In a policy revision announced this week, Google will be instituting one blanket privacy policy across their many web products with the reasoning that they're building a streamlined user experience. The data from your activity and habits on one Google-owned site will be stored in their servers and shared across all their sites. The legal speak details for Google's new Terms of Service are Read more