O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Traditionally the U.S. government has taken a very hands off approach with regards to the internet and privacy, with their actions largely being limited to issues concerning children under the age of thirteen, hoping not to stifle new innovations that would jeopardize the U.S.'s ability to dominate the technology market (such dominance has provided huge prosperity for us).  However, as the technologies progress so too do the risks to our privacy, and it's no secret that data mining is becoming an increasingly profitable business, as well as an increasingly invasive one.

For some time there has been a need for the government to step up and and at least enact some basic privacy protection laws to regulate the trade in information about internet users online behavior. These laws/standards don't need to be so overbearing that they might stifle innovation, but they should provide a standard of what is and is not acceptable behavior (on the part data miners), and provide some system (like SEC) to ensure that companies are following the rules.  Some politicians and personalities, mostly right wingers who are concerned with growing government power (and some on the left concerned with regulation of freedoms of speech) have opposed internet regulation.  The simple fact of the matter is that whether you agree or disagree with regulations, there is nothing you can do (unless you posses considerable computer skills or specialized software) to completely protect your privacy because most of the decisions about it aren't made by you, but by companies outside of your control (you probably don't even know they exists). And lets face it; if it comes down to choosing between your privacy or money in the bank most executives are choosing a new Ferrari, and what's to stop them you don't even know they're doing it (answer= nothing).

Its not all bad news though. The Obama administration has taken that important first step in calling for this new type of regulation, which would include an "internet users bill of rights."   Their plans, which have apparently taken a back seat to the recession (and anything else), would include passing basic privacy laws, and establishing a watchdog office to ensure that regulations are being followed, and even the possible required installation of a do-not-track feature on browsers.