A Senate inquiry into the adequacy of privacy laws will soon begin, sparked by recent online privacy controversies and the government's plans to snoop on web users' internet communications.

The inquiry, pushed through by the Greens, will examine privacy protections and data collection on social networking sites and the data collection activities of private companies and government agencies. A report will be delivered by October 20.

Green Senator Scott Ludlam wants an inquiry into privacy laws.

The recent string of online data collection controversies - such as the Facebook uproar and Google Wi-Fi snooping scandal - has shown there is a need to update privacy laws in line with the next generation of internet applications, according to the Greens.

Social networking site Facebook has recently come under fire for making it difficult for users to put limits on how far the information they upload is shared. Google has also come under scrutiny from privacy authorities around the world for the wireless connection data it gathered while compiling images for its Street View service.