Recent data breaches at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Facebook have spurred European regulators to call for tighter rules safeguarding private data, reports Eric Pfanner at The New York Times. Burgeoning technologies, like social networking and other web-based services, demand stricter rules than the ones put in place in 1995, the European Commission said last week.

The commission expects to introduce legislation next year. Rules should ensure that consumers are informed clearly and transparently how their information will be used. Consumers should also be able to completely delete social network profiles and other digital data.

One lightening-rod question in the privacy debate in Europe is whether companies should be prohibited from using or sharing personal data before getting express permission from consumers to do so. If permission were required, it would make behavioral advertising--or target advertising based on a user's online activity--a more difficult endeavor. 

In making privacy rules take into account new technologies, regulators and others in Europe are also interested in harmonizing the implementation of rules among the 27 members of the European Union. Differing interpretations and implementations have impeded cloud computing initiatives because companies must adhere to different standards in different countries, Pfanner reports.

Meanwhile, in the United States officials are looking at beefing up enforcement of private rules and pursuing new ones. The Federal Trade Commission is planning to issue recommendations for new privacy laws within the next few weeks, reports Cecilia Kang at The Washington Post. 

For more:
- see Eric Pfanner's article at The New York Times
- see Cecilia Kang's article at The Washington Post

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