In today’s Quick Hits, we follow up on some of the fallout from Facebook’s f8 announcements and discuss a pending Supreme Court case.

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Open Graph Makes Facebook Friends a Liability

In an article for CNET, Dan Kusnetzky discusses how he seems to be accumulating friends on Facebook despite the fact that he doesn’t recall accepting them. While having excess friends or casual acquaintances on Facebook may not have been a huge concern in the past, Facebook’s recently announced Open Graph technology exposes a lot more private data than most users would like.

Should You Kill Your Facebook Friends?

In another article for CNET, Jason Purlow discusses how he had to “kill” several hundred of his Facebook friends after his account was infected by some kind of bug. Purlow explains how frustrating it is to keep up with the “obligations” of managing a huge friend base and the dangers inherent to exposing your personal information to so many people.

Open Web Advocates Upset Over Facebook’s Open Graph

TechCrunch talks about how some leaders in the “Open Web” industry are reacting to Facebook’s Open Graph technology. People focused on keeping the web open are unhappy with Facebook’s plans, saying that Facebook’s Open Graph is “open in name only.” However, given Facebook’s massive userbase and considerable financial fortunes, it’s unlikely that any other open technology could compete.

Supreme Court Deciding Limits of Public Employee Privacy Rights

The United States Supreme Court is currently hearing a case regarding the limits of a public employee’s privacy rights while using employer-issued technology. The case revolves around a California police officer who sent explicit text messages to a girlfriend while on the job. The New York Times reports on the progress of the case, explaining how the court’s decision in either direction could affect privacy law going forward.

It is important to note that this case is narrowly focused on government employees. The First and Fourth Amendments limit how the government can restrict speech and invade privacy, but they have no bearing on how a private company can operate.

Where’s Facebook’s Geolocation Technology?

The New York Times Bits Blog wonders why, in light of all the announcements regarding Facebook’s Open Graph technology, the company hasn’t made a much-anticipated announcement about its location-based technology. Is Facebook still planning on unveiling geolocation capabilities in the near future?

Yesterday, we shared our thoughts on what Facebook’s newly announced Open Graph technology could mean for user privacy. But we’re not the only ones who had an opinion. Throughout the web, tech journalists and bloggers have been dissecting Facebook’s announcements from every possible angle.

Today, I wanted to take time to highlight five different articles focused on the privacy implications of the Open Graph announcement. If you know of any additional analysis that you find interesting please feel free to leave a link in the comments.

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ReadWriteWeb: Why You Should Delete Your Facebook Applications

ReadWriteWeb’s Sarah Perez has analyzed Facebook’s policy changes and has come to one conclusion: delete your Facebook apps. In her article, Sarah specifically focuses on a Facebook change that allows developers to store and cache user data indefinitely (previously, they could only store data for 24 hours).

“On its own, the new data retention policy doesn’t change how developers can use the data they store. In fact, for some developers, it won’t change much of anything at all – many simply ignored Facebook’s rules about data retention in the past. Even with the change, it’s just business as usual for those developers and their apps.

That said, the indefinite storage now permitted is concerning for a few reasons. As security engineer Joey Tyson points out on his blog, a site where he has detailed numerous hacks and security holes for Facebook, Google and more, the change makes Facebook apps “far more valuable targets for attackers.”

A popular application’s database could be filled with literally millions of users’ personal details (Facebook now touts 400 million users and Facebook’s most popular app, Farmville, for instance, boasts over 81 million users). If such a database was targeted for attack, the payload for hackers could be incredible.”

It is worth noting that Sarah only suggests deleting apps that you no longer use, rather than closing your Facebook account completely, but the point remains. Personal details about our lives will now be even more accessible to third-party companies and that presents a legitimate safety and security risk for users.

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ReadWriteWeb: How Facebook Has Changed So Much in Only Two Years

Expounding upon Sarah Perez’s article, ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall Kirkpatrick explores just how far Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has come on the issue of privacy in the last two years. Ccomparing specific quotes by Zuckerberg from 2008 with things that he said at the f8 conference, Kirkpatrick reveals how user privacy is no longer Facebook’s number one priority.

“Facebook today announced that application developers will be allowed to store user data for more than 24 hours, removing a major restriction that the company had imposed on its ecosystem for years. Competitors like Twitter and MySpace had no such restrictions and now Facebook is in the same boat. Founder Mark Zukerberg used to say that the rule against storing data was essential to protect users and their privacy.

Where are those now? Privacy, Zuckerberg told me in a March 2008 interview, “is the vector around which Facebook operates.” Two years later, not so much.”

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Mashable: What Does Open Graph Mean for Privacy?

At Mashable, Christina Warren takes a broad look at the privacy implications of Open Graph, exploring how the onus of responsibility for protecting one’s privacy has shifted squarely on the shoulders of users. This change has been brewing for a long time and likely represents a new paradigm for Internet users.

“I took a look at the different documentations of the Open Graph API and the different social plugins, and gathered that the data collection and overall privacy settings don’t differ from what has already been available. Again, what changes is how that data can be displayed to different people and how it can be integrated in different ways.

Nevertheless, it is imperative that users who have concerns about privacy make sure they read and understand what information they are making available to applications before using them. Users need to be aware that when they “Like” an article on CNN, that “Like” may show up on a customized view that their friends see.

Public no longer means “public on Facebook,” it means “public in the Facebook ecosystem.” Some companies, like Pandora, are going to go to great lengths to allow users to separate or opt out of linking their Pandora and Facebook accounts together, but users can’t expect all apps and sites to take that approach. My advice to you: Be aware of your privacy settings.”

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Gawker: Will Users Actually Give Up Facebook Over Privacy Concerns? Not Likely

At Gawker, Ryan Tate observes that, despite criticism from privacy advocates, Facebook has grown significantly since the last time the company made major privacy changes. If users didn’t abandon the site then, what’s going to make them abandon it now?

Despite widespread hue and cry in December, and even a rash of bloggers deleting and deactivating their accounts, Facebook’s growth barely paused. In fact it resumed an upward trajectory this year and Facebook is now on track to hit 500 million monthly visitors.

Yes, there are also those class-action suits and complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. But given the puny size of past privacy settlements, neither of those really hit Facebook where it hurts, its growth and its bottom line. Besides, does it sound like Facebook is really scared of rolling back privacy even further?

Tate’s point is definitely worth considering. Many tech pundits have argued that we’ve reached the point of no return when it comes to Facebook. The site is simply too ingrained into our daily web habits for people to leave it in any significant numbers. Is that really the case? Could you give up Facebook?

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As I said at the top of the post, please share any additional analysis that you’ve found in the comments.

In today’s Quick Hits, we explore cyberbullying legislation, the importance of local search, and how to handle a reputation crisis on Twitter.

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Google Maps Integrates Search Suggestions

According to the Official Google Maps Blog, Google users will now see search suggestions in Google Maps based on a user’s location. The feature will roll out in a number of countries, including China, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, United States, and the United Kingdom. The integration of search suggestions into Google Maps clearly demonstrates how important it is for businesses to maintain a strong web presence.

McAfee Faces Reputation Crisis on Twitter

After pushing a faulty update to users, McAfee security is facing extreme criticism on Twitter and other social media websites. The update, which incapacitated thousands of computers running McAfee software, is a sore spot for McAfee, especially considering the company’s reputation as a leading security provider.

McAfee’s mistake, and the company’s delayed response to the resulting backlash, provides an important lesson for businesses. You should be prepared at any time to go online and manage negative feedback.

Louisiana Cyberbullying Legislation Moves Forward

The AP is reporting that cyberbullying legislation in Louisiana has been approved by the House Criminal Justice Committee and will be debated by the Louisiana House of Representatives in coming weeks. The legislation, which comes in response to a number of teen suicides related to cyberbullying in the last year, would make cyberbullying a misdemeanor crime with punishments ranging from a six-month prison sentence and $500 fine for a first conviction. Second and third convictions would face steeper punishments.

Why Brand Management Matters

In an article for Information Management, Blake Cahill of Visible Technologies discusses the shifting nature of the World Wide Web and why social media has made proactive brand reputation management a must for small, medium, and large businesses. Blake touches on the importance of employing strong monitoring tools and developing intelligent internal processes for dealing with web communications.

Of all of Facebook’s announcement during today’s f8 conference, none is more important to the issue of Internet privacy than the Open Graph. With the Open Graph, Facebook hopes to tie everything you do online back to your Facebook profile.

As Mashable explains, Open Graph is essentially a replacement for Facebook Connect.

“When you connect to sites like Yelp via your Facebook profile, Yelp will have access to any information you’ve made publicly available about your favorite foods or favorite bands, and will be able to take that into account when giving you information about restaurants or music venues. For example, Yelp could pull information about your favorite music from data that Pandora added to the graph when you favorited a song on its site.”

Obviously, there are major privacy implications to sharing user data with third-party companies on such a massive scale. In his remarks, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that only information that is shared publicly on Facebook will be used as part of the Open Graph. Given how few people truly understand what is and is not public on their own profiles, however, that’s a small comfort.

Zuckerberg faced significant criticism in January over remarks that his company was merely pursuing “new social norms” when it took steps to open up user profiles to the greater web. Here on our blog, Reputation.com Chief Privacy Officer Dave Thompson wrote a compelling article challenging the merits of Facebook’s decision, explaining how “every action on Facebook affects a much larger privacy ecosystem.“

With Open Graph prepared to roll out in the coming weeks, Dave’s thoughts seem more pertinent ever. The information that we share on Facebook is no longer restricted to Facebook. Even with privacy settings in place, it is easier than ever to make a frighteningly accurate social profile of someone based solely on information found through simple Google results.

Facebook wants to be the primary hub through which we surf the web. Judging by the company’s announcements today, I wouldn’t say they are far off from achieving that goal. As the company continues to expand and compete directly with the likes of Google, however, Facebook users need to understand that the choices they make online will directly affect their lives and not just through more personalized advertising.

Today at its f8 developer conference, Facebook made a number of major announcements that should forever cement its reputation as a major technology company, not just the world’s largest social networking website.

My original plan was to go through each of Facebook’s developments point by point and analyze what effect they may have on the greater eco-system of the web, until I saw that Jeremiah Owyang had already done so through one of his amazing matrixes. Given how well Jeremiah’s matrix explains Facebook’s updates, I wanted to share it here for you to enjoy.

As the privacy and reputation implications of Facebook’s updates become more apparent, we will go into more detailed analysis. In the meantime, there’s plenty of interesting information to chew on from Jeremiah’s analysis. The “social bar” in particular is something that merits considerable attention.