Privacy Alert: 10 Biggest Threats of 2010

From the PCWorld Business Center:

2010 could go on record as the year the privacy mess hit the proverbial fan.

Companies such as Apple, AT&T, Facebook, and Google all got nailed for sharing users' personal data in big ways, accidentally or otherwise. Police officers were caught tracking people's movements via cell phones, while Web advertisers tracked surfers' virtual movements via hard-to-kill cookies. Schools spied on their students, mobile apps spied on their owners, and the feds caught heat for getting a little too personal with their security searches.

But the biggest privacy headlines of 2010 weren't necessarily the biggest threats, while some lesser-known incidents had far more serious implications. How dangerous are these privacy issues to you? In this rundown, we use the Department of Homeland Security's threat level system to rate the threats, and we provide suggestions on how you can protect yourself.