According to Pew’s Internet &American Life Project, people are growing concerned about their social networking profiles and are restricting access to them because of heightened privacy concerns. According to a new Pew study, nearly two-thirds of users have deleted people from friend lists, up from 56% in 2009. A majority also limit access to their profiles so only friends can see them. Furthermore, 44% deleted comments from their profiles, while 37% have removed their names from photos in which they were tagged. 

Reuters has reported that Google's Street View cars, which are well known for crisscrossing the globe and taking panoramic pictures of the city's streets, accidentally collected data from unsecured wireless networks used by residents in more than 30 countries, collecting even more personal data including complete emails and passwords, Google disclosed in May.