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Linden Lab, the makers of virtual world Second Life announced to their customers that its database, which includes customer names, addresses, passwords and credit card information had been hacked.

While Linden Lab’s CTO Cory Ondrejka advised users to “change their Second Life passwords immediately,” this security breach occurs after a string of events in the last week that have brought up the issue of privacy. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology to Facebook users after a week of protests regarding a new feature that perhaps exposed to much information to other users about a person’s decision to make changes to their profile. Jason Fortuny’s prank of posing as a woman on Craiglist, and then posting the photos and identifying information points to the fact that people are far too open in sharing their personal information with complete strangers online.

Regardless, more privacy tools are needed online — and fast. Tools like Google Checkout, eBay’s PayPal, Bill Me Later and other alternatives to credit card payments have already made people more comfortable about shopping online. People may also want think twice before sharing their profiles, photos, email addresses and other sensitive data with others who they do not already have an established, trusted relationship.