Whether consumers know it or not, some Web services are better at protecting their personal information than others. In an annual survey, the Electronic Frontier Foundation gave Twitter near perfect marks -- three and a half gold stars out of four -- for its ability to guard consumer data. Beating out the tweet machine was service provider Sonic.net, which was the only company to score four-out-of-four stars. For its survey, the EFF examined the policies of 18 major Internet companies to assess whether they publicly commit to standing with users when the government seeks access to user data. The companies …

Following a slow rollout last month, Microsoft has set the latest, social-savvy version of Bing as its default search engine. The new Bing features a three-column format to show users snapshots of search results, and, in addition to the traditional “10 blue links,” the social sidebar of what their Facebook and Twitter friends are talking about. “The aim of the new Bing is to virtually replicate the social structure that most of us rely on when we need some answers or advice by integrating our personal online networks with search results,” writes WebProNews. “It’s a pretty hefty counter to Google’s …

In other EU-based, Google-related news, Europe's antitrust chief has given the search giant until early July to propose changes to its search results and ad rules or face a court battle, and the threat of huge fines. “Joaquin Almunia, the head of competition policy, has set out in a private letter the European commission's concerns on how Google's dominance -- where in Europe it has about 90% of searches -- could be harming competition,” The Guardian reports. The threat of government regulation is nothing new for Google, as it faces similar perils at home, as well as in France, Germany, …