In privacy news, MediaPost ran an interesting article quoting KPMG’s new study that pointed out that “52% [of consumers are] saying they would be willing to let their usage patterns -- and even their personal information -- be tracked by advertisers, if this resulted in free access to content or lower product costs.“  Also, Microsoft and Google said that they have more than 100 engineers dedicated to privacy between them, showing just how important the issue is becoming to big companies. In that same vein, AdAge released its Top Ten list of important legal issues for 2012, and privacy self-regulation was at the top.   Will Trade Tracking For Deals, Consumers Signal – MediaPost –Consumers remain wary of behavioral tracking and want to maintain control of their data, but a new KPMG study suggests that digital users are also ready to cut a deal. The new research of Internet, mobile and cable users found 52% saying they would be willing to let their usage patterns -- and even their personal information -- be tracked by advertisers, if this resulted in free access to content or lower product costs. Google, Microsoft teams work to keep pace with privacy laws – ComputerWorld – The companies offered a glimpse at the work required to try to stay on top of data privacy issues. A marketer's guide to the privacy debate – iMedia Connection – For the select few that closely follow this issue, the industry is teetering on a precipice. Nevertheless, for the majority of digital marketing professionals, whose days are completely filled buying, selling, strategizing, and executing digital media, the privacy debate has been a back-burner topic. However, no one's saying it isn't important. We know it's important. Editorial: Time to enact 'Do Not Track' – USA Today – Facebook's 800 million users are probably feeling a little more secure since the social media giant agreed to privacy measures forced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) late last month. But they'd be wise to stay cautious. Plenty of incentive for mischief remains, and not only on Facebook.

• Opposing view: Better ways to protect consumer privacy – USA Today – The economics of the Internet are simple. Businesses produce interesting content and services to attract an audience, and advertisers pay businesses to show ads to this audience. This basic three-way trade underpins the explosion of innovation on the Internet over the past two decades and the development of a vast range of free content and services available to consumers today. In fact, the three most popular websites on the Internet — Google, Facebook and YouTube — are all paid for with online ads.