Where is Net Privacy Headed in 2010?

For consumer groups that concern themselves with Internet privacy, the efforts to press policymakers to enact regulations or pass laws setting boundaries for collecting data online recall the plight of the long-suffering Brooklyn Dodgers fan: "Wait 'til next year" serves as a fitting mantra for both.

So 2009 came and went with little movement on the privacy front, but advocates are looking ahead to 2010 with high hopes that this year, finally, will be their year. And they may be right. The best hope for groups looking to advance the privacy agenda in 2010 rests with the Federal Trade Commission, which has been sending signals that closer scrutiny is on its way.