Google has worked hard to lock down the personal data it collects since revelations in the last year and a half about mass surveillance programs at the U.S. National Security Agency, company Chairman Eric Schmidt said.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's new chief technologist is high-profile digital privacy consultant Ashkan Soltani, a move that signals the agency's growing interest in policing online tracking and other Internet privacy issues.
Companies offering anonymous Web browsing and communication services are seeing a huge increase in business since recent news leaks about the U.S. National Security Agency's mass data collection and surveillance activities.