Standards for online privacy might be in flux as ad networks debate whether to respect the new browser-based do-not-track headers, but many ad companies at least offer privacy policies and say that users can opt out of receiving targeted ads. When it comes to mobile privacy, however, a good number of app developers appear to operate on an anything-goes basis.

Facebook has come under fire in the past for leaking users' names through referrer URLs. Now it's come to light that the referrer URLs also gave third parties like advertisers and analytics companies access to a host of additional information, including users' chat histories, photos and other personal data.

Sherman Frederick, former CEO of Stephens Media, said last year that his company "grubstaked" copyright enforcement outfit Righthaven in order to fight "copyright theft" that he said was running rampant online.

When news broke last year that many apps were collecting iPhone and iPad users' device identifiers, some observers downplayed the significance of the findings on the theory that device identifiers were "anonymous." Now, however, it turns out that some people can be named based on their iPhone/iPad identifiers, or UDIDs -- a sequence of 40 letters and numbers unique to each iPhone or iPad.

As of this week, broadband provider AT&T started limiting the bandwidth that its DSL and U-Verse subscribers can download or upload. Under the new caps, DSL subscribers can consume only 150 GB of data a month, while U-Verse subscribers get 250 GB. AT&T has said that subscribers who exceed the limits will be charged $10 for 50 GB.

Earlier this year, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chair of the House Judiciary Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet subcommittee, criticized the Federal Communications Commission for engaging in "mission creep" with its net neutrality order. Today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told Goodlatte and his colleagues that antitrust laws are no substitute for neutrality requirements.

In yet another blow to Righthaven, U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan this week issued a written opinion that casts doubt on whether the copyright enforcer can ever win when Web publishers say they have a fair right to repost material from newspapers.

Mozilla, Microsoft and Apple have heeded the Federal Trade Commission's call for an easy-to-use do-not-track mechanism and promised to offer browser-based headers. The headers, when activated by users, communicate to Web sites that users don't want to be tracked. What that term actually means, however, is open to debate.

The Federal Trade Commission should order Google to stop stating in its privacy policy that its behavioral advertising program doesn't collect personal information, privacy group Center for Digital Democracy argues in a new FTC filing.