The global Internet community "has been put on notice... that privacy cannot be an afterthought." That was the message from Yahoo, Inc., Chief Privacy Officer Anne Toth at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's privacy consultations in Toronto on Thursday. The Globe and Mail reports that Toth distanced herself from social networking executives who have reportedly disregarded privacy as a concern, instead cautioning that if the online industry does not improve Web site privacy settings, regulators will start imposing harsher rules. David Vladeck of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who also spoke at the event, confirmed that the FTC plans to introduce rules this summer aimed at giving consumers more control over Web sites' use of their data. (See related story below.)
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