Top federal officials pushed forward March 16 on efforts to establish mandates for internet privacy, the Washington Post reports. In a Senate hearing on internet privacy, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission reiterated his push for a Do Not Track tool to help protect internet users’ privacy, saying consumers should have the choice to have their activity followed online. The Obama administration also threw its support behind legislation that would strengthen privacy protections on the web. The greater attention on online privacy reflects concerns by privacy advocates and civil liberties groups that companies such as Facebook and Apple are encouraging users to share greater information about themselves and their internet activities on their applications. Those companies are quickly gaining more users, but federal laws have not kept up with the applications to ensure that personal information isn’t being improperly used…