It’s 2012, do you know who has access to your online accounts? Throughout the year we click on pretty, sparkling new-fangled apps, and in the process give third-party software providers access to various parts of our online identities. Ready to reign in control? My Permissions provides easy access to the URLs that control the permissions settings of popular services such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google. It is definitetly worth the few minutes it takes to review all your permission settings, and make sure they truly reflect your needs.

Do you worry about strangers reading your email? Perhaps a nefarious hacker or the government? Sorry to burst your conspiracy bubble, but chances are that the email voyeur reading your email is someone you know, such as a spouse, boss or work colleague. An email privacy survey by Retrvo Blog confirms that there is a “lot of snooping and tracking going on among people who know each other.” Internet guru Bob Rankin offers his viewpoint here.

A recent, high profile murder trial in Florida used search history to incriminate the plaintiff. Just how much of your history actually remains on your personal computer? Leo Notenboom, of Ask-Leo.com, explains that unless you have spyware installed on your computer, your every keystroke is not being recorded. However, there is a fair amount of history that is available. He also reviews various programs and how useful they are at removing some of that history.

Facebook finds itself in the middle of yet another privacy maelstrom, when they opted all their users into their new facial recognition photo-tagging service. For an analysis of why some think this is “super creepy” and big-brother-ish, read this article from PC World by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal.

Users of Google’s Chrome browser have one-click access to private browsing through use of the “incognito mode.” When operating incognito, Chrome will not save cookies, browsing history, passwords, form data, or download history. To switch to incognito mode, click the tools wench (in the upper right-hand corner) and select “New Incognito Window.” To learn more, read Google Tutor or Google Help.

Microsoft researcher Danah Boyd explores some unusual ways to reduce risk on Facebook at her blog Apophenia. For example, some Facebook users deactivate their account whenever they log out. This doesn’t delete any friends or settings, and when you login and reactive, everything is just as you left it. But it does eliminate “pesky” wall postings and inappropriate photos that might be left while you are not online to moderate them.

Internet privacy is a hot topic, but do you know exactly how much detail about your life is available online? At this site Attack Vector IT specialist Matt takes us step-by-step into gathering private data about a person, starting with just an email address and an IP address (both of which can be found on any incoming email message.) Read his Invasion of Privacy post here.

Although strong passwords that are impossible to guess are an important part of online security, they are not the only precaution you need to take to keep your online identity secure. Leo Notenboom of Ask Leo lists nine ways your password could be compromised, even if it is very long, has lots of numbers and symbols in it, and would be impossible to guess. Learn more here.

With a recent change in how Twitter authorizes login credentials, even if you change your Twitter password, all your existing apps will still have access to your account. To view the apps that you have authorized, first login into your Twitter account, then go to Settings, and Connections. From this screen you will see all apps you have authorized, and have the opportunity to revoke access for any of them.

With its new Facebook Places service, Facebook recently pitted itself against Foursquare in the location-based social media market. Almost immediately concerns over privacy were raised by the ACLU, who says that opting out of public tagging of your location is too difficult. To learn how to lock down the various geo-tagging features of Facebook, take a look at this privacy guide created by the ACLU.