The US House Commerce Committee held a panel last week evaluating current and future online privacy protections. It was very in depth and one consensus was made: we need more stringent privacy protections, especially for children. How those protections would look and be implemented is still up for debate, however – you can find good coverage of it in The Hill below.  Information Week also ran an intriguing piece arguing against European-style privacy regulation for the U.S., stating that it was still unproven. House panel calls for stringent online privacy protections – The Hill – Democrats and Republicans called for stringent online privacy protections, especially for children, in a wide-ranging joint subcommittee hearing on Thursday. FTC supports data privacy, though not do-not-track tool – Simply Security – Highlighting a growing trend, the Federal Trade Commission voiced its support for greater online privacy in a recent testimony before Congress. Don't Foist Euro-Style Online Privacy On The U.S. – Information Week – As Congress debates numerous privacy bills, don't assume that the tougher protections afforded by EU law are the right model for the U.S. Commission advice on cookies is ambiguous, data protection watchdog says – Out-Law – The European Commission has not clearly told businesses how to comply with EU cookie laws, according to the data protection watchdog for EU institutions. Google Employee No. 59 on Google+, Privacy and Why He Left – The Wall Street Journal – Douglas Edwards joined Google in 1999 as employee No. 59, and lived through some of its early developmental steps, including the creation of the Google Doodle and Gmail. Something of an outsider in a culture dominated by engineers, Edwards helped the company develop what he calls “a human voice,” and stayed through the company’s eventual IPO.