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Consumers are only just starting to realize what they need to do to protect their privacy, Abine CEO Bill Kerrigan discusses on digits. Photo: AP Images.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/28/13 -- To kick off Data Privacy Day #DPD13, TRUSTe(R), the leading global provider of online privacy management solutions, today released its 2013 U.S. Consumer Confidence Index, which shows that a high proportion of U.S. adults aged 18 and older remain worried about their privacy online; and user mistrust and the potential impact on business are growing.

Privacy-based fears and concerns, legitimate or not, fueled many of the big privacy events in 2012. New technologies mean new privacy risks, and as technology continues to advance this coming year, we will see 2013 as the year of privacy on steroids.

A survey conducted by database security vendor GreenSQL found a high level of distrust in cloud services, despite the perception that transparency is increasing.

The current flap over Instagram’s new terms-of-service agreement, which appears to give the company wider powers to re-use its customers photographs for its own commercial purposes, comes as the privacy policies of more internet companies are put under intense scrutiny.

Adopting cloud-based services raises concerns and questions about data security, according to the Sophos 2013 Threat Report.

If a man were standing outside your home, photographing your family and following your kids, would you call the police? Surely. What if that man were a datacenter gathering the same data, and selling it to whom they pleased? Who do you call?