Kristy Ross, suspected ringleader of a "scareware" scam that tricked over a million consumers into buying software to remove malware detected by fake antivirus scans, has been ordered to pay more than $163 million in damages, the Federal Trade Commission announced. The court also permanently barred Ms. Ross from selling security software of any kind, as well as any software that might interfere with a consumer's computer use or engage in any from of deceptive marketing.

In a 3-1-1 vote (three approvals, one dissent, and one not participating), the Federal Trade Commission  (FTC) has accepted final terms of a settlement with Facebook to resolve charges that the social networking site engaged in deceptive privacy practices. Terms of the settlement do include a monetary fine, as was the case with Google, which agreed to pay a record $22.5 million penalty to the FTC to settle a different set of alleged privacy violations.

Google is attempting to hammer out a record-setting $22.5 million settlement offer to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over charges that the sultan of search effectively sidestepped privacy settings in Apple's Safari browser. If agreed upon, the $22.5 million settlement would be the largest fine ever handed out to a single entity by the FTC, which has ramped up efforts to ensure rights of online users aren't violated.

Google a week ago began rolling out a social search update called "Search, "Plus Your World," which meshes photos, comments, and posts on your Google+ account with your search results. This has drawn the ire of a privacy advocate called  EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) concerned over privacy and antitrust issues that could arise from the new search feature.