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"Mobile phone tracking techniques are becoming more commonplace. Waste bins target ads. Shopping centres follow customers. Spooks follow airport passengers. Will the Privacy Act's new definition of personal information provide enhanced protections against mobile phone tracking? Not really. Here's why."

Do Not Track is a personalized documentary series about privacy and the web economy. If you share data with us, we'll show you what the web knows about you. This documentary series will explore how information about you is collected and used. Every two weeks, we will release a personalized episode that explores a different aspect of how the modern web is increasingly a space where our movements, our speech and our identities are recorded and tracked.

"Schoolchildren are at risk of having their online activity tracked and monitored for targeted advertising by internet firms through free cloud based education services. A survey has found that many parents do not know about data mining - the process of tracking email and web browsing habits in order to target advertising - but once they do they have grave concerns for their kids' online privacy, and believe schools need to do more to protect it. The survey commissioned by American IT industry group SafeGov asked 1000 Australian parents about their knowledge of data mining."

Some advice from Duck, Duck Go on how to restrict tracking that can occur when browsing the web.

An elementary school in our district recently got 30 iPads and asked for some advice implementing them with students and teachers. In addition to suggesting some starter apps, I recommended that we have conversations with kids around the appropriate use of these devices. While almost every child has used an iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone, the exciting learning opportunities these mobile, Internet-connected, media creation devices create also open the door to new challenges. Cyberbullying or inappropriate web publishing happens more through the camera than regular computer use does; the mobility of the device combined with the reality that multiple users are using the device with no personalized, password-protected, network-tracked accounts makes it more challenging to keep track of who is doing what with the device or that the device itself is safe.

Some interesting research going on in the EU on how social media can be used to inform policy: Social networking technology provides major new opportunities for policy makers (eGovernment) to engage with the community (eSociety). We will develop a toolset that allows full advantage to be taken of a wide range of existing and well established social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, WordPress etc.) to engage citizens in two-way dialogs as part of governance and policymaking processes. The tools will make it possible to detect, track and mine opinions and discussions on policy oriented topics. The tools will allow discussions to be seeded and stimulated through injection of policy discussion points into relevant communities in a secure and managed way. The tools will allow the origins, bias and evolution of opinions to be tracked to provide auditable records of provenance, guard against misuse, and ensure trust and privacy for all involved. A key feature of our approach is to allow policy makers to move away from the limitations inherent in the current practice of using bespoke and dedicated platforms (e.g. specific opinion soliciting websites hosted by government) and instead make full use of the high levels of participation and rich discussions that already take place in existing social networking communities. In this way, WeGov will develop the tools and techniques for closing the loop between policy makers and the citizens.

"If you've ever searched for something on Amazon, and then saw multiple online ads for that product over the next few days, you've seen how advertisers can use your personal data. On desktop, that's a fairly straightforward process: A website uses cookies to track you wherever you go. As the infographic, below, explains, mobile is a lot different:"

"Privacy Badger is a browser add-on that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers from secretly tracking where you go and what pages you look at on the web.  If an advertiser seems to be tracking you across multiple websites without your permission, Privacy Badger automatically blocks that advertiser from loading any more content in your browser.  To the advertiser, it's like you suddenly disappeared."

Whether you like it or not, your internet activities are being monitored every time you log online. In this infographic you can learn more about who's tracking who....

We leave breadcrumbs of our personal information everywhere as we travel through the digital woods.

"We now live in a world where the topics of technology and privacy seem to work hand-in-hand. Gone are the days of buying a brand new TV or video game console where concerns of surveillance never existed. Now, our smart phones and tablets can act as TVs while tracking our location via GPS or wi-fi. The new batch of consoles set to come out later this year are both going to come with high definition cameras, with one of them confirmed to be active 24/7. Not only that, but now people are concerned about other possible emerging technologies such as facial recognition and thumbprint scanning. But are these fears warranted? Or are we simply becoming too paranoid and suspicious of companies and the technology they hand us?"

Over the past couple of years, I've been trying to collect every good piece of writing and advice about verifying social media content and other types of information that flow across networks. This form of verification involves some new tools and techniques, and requires a basic understanding of the way networks operate and how people use them. It also requires many of the so-called old school values and techniques that have been around for a while: being skeptical, asking questions, tracking down high quality sources, exercising restraint, collaborating and communicating with team members. Post also contains a great Slideshare.

There are no secrets online. That emotional email you sent to your ex, the illness you searched for in a fit of hypochondria, those hours spent watching kitten videos (you can take that as a euphemism if the kitten fits) - can all be gathered to create a defining profile of you. Advertisement: Story continues below Your information can then be stored, analysed, indexed and sold as a commodity to data brokers who in turn might sell it to advertisers, employers, health insurers or credit rating agencies.

"You don't have to be running for president to care about your online reputation. Almost everything you do online is easy to track, especially when you're using social media sites. This infographic shows you how to manage your "e-reputation," perhaps saving you some embarrassment, or even your career. Gathered by digital marketing firm KBSD, it's a treasure trove of tips, techniques and information about what companies and individuals are looking for inside your personal profiles and social information, and what you can do to show off your best side to those who might want to find out unflattering things about you. It's not too late to protect yourself and polish up your online image. So now that you've grown up (you have grown up, haven't you?), this would be a good time to do a bit of backtracking, cleaning up those mistakes you made in the past as much as you can, and at the same time, keeping an eye on your online behavior so there won't be anything to hide in the future."

"I'm pretty sure that we're all aware of computer hackers. The real shocker comes with just how easy it is for hackers to steal your information. Today's infographic lets us regular folk know just how easy it is for our information to be tracked and potentially stolen. I have personally been guilty of being too trusting of public routers.  Since I don't have internet at home, I'll spend HOURS surfing the net, and getting personal things done at Mcdonalds, where the internet is free for the public to use. But not after reading today's infographic! It's crazy to realize that this entire time someone could have been cyber stalking my information! I'm going to have to beef up my antivirus and keep my internet time to a minimum. Seriously, for your personal and financial safety, read today's infographic and be protect your computer. The facts in today's infographic are too scary to ignore!"

"Data Dealer is an online game about collecting and selling personal data - full of irony and gleeful sarcasm. It´s a browser/serious/edu/impact game about digital culture and surveillance and aims to raise awareness about online privacy in a new and fun way. The English version was released in May 2013. Let's call it a bastard offspring of certain shiny 2010 Facebook Games and the 1990 TV simulation game Mad TV, reborn with the souls of South Park and Bruce Schneier. And it´s also available on Facebook! Oh, the irony. In today´s digital age virtually everything we do is recorded, monitored or tracked in some way: Data Dealer is a unique interactive exploration of this personal data ecosystem."

"As we all know, search engines like tracking you - your IP address, your search terms and so on. They use this to build up profiles, store the data and so on. It can be a real pain trying to search without this information being stored, but you can try Disconnect Private Search. This routes your search queries through their proxy servers before they go to the popular search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo."

"A new app allowing parents to look at their children's call history, text messages and internet use will soon launch in Australia. The app, called Teensafe, already claims 1 million users in the US. But Australian police are warning that while the threat to children from online predators is real, spy apps allowing parents to track their children's smartphone usage are not a 'silver bullet' and could breach trust."

"Plagiarism has been with us for as long as the written word. From the classical Greek playwrights, to Dr Martin Luther King, even the greatest of historical figures have been tainted by scandal. But over the last decade, academics have spoken out with increasing exasperation over the tide of students using everything from Wikipedia to bespoke essay writing services in pursuit of easy high grades. Universities are involved in a cat and mouse game to stop the plagiarists in their tracks."