In today’s Quick Hits we touch on numerous Facebook stories, some Twitter legal news, and discuss the “Privacy Paradox.” Check it out.

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Facebook, MySpace Send Personal Data to Advertisers?

A recent Wall Street Journal article revealed that Facebook and other social media websites like MySpace “have been sending data to advertising companies that could be used to find consumers’ names and other personal details, despite promises they don’t share such information without consent.” The issue specifically revolves around Facebook referral URLs for advertising including username information.

Before you get too upset, however, ReadWriteWeb’s Marshall Kirkpatrick has analyzed the article and come to the conclusion that there was a small privacy issue, that is now being resolved, but that the overall tone of the article suggested something much, much bigger. In any case, it shows you how Facebook has become a lightning rod for anything privacy-related.

Facebook on Verge of Big Privacy Changes After User Complaints

Speaking of Facebook privacy, Times Online is citing several anonymous sources at Facebook who say that the site is planning a major change to its privacy controls that could make it much easier for users to keep their profiles totally private. As the Times article explains, “this would be a big reversal for the site, in particular for its 26-year-old chief executive and founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is known to have overruled those employees who argued that Facebook should make user data more private.”

Google Chrome 6.0 Predicts What Website You’ll Visit Next

While the Google Chrome 5.0 browser is almost ready for release in beta mode, Google has already moved on to testing for Google Chrome 6.0. According to a report from earlier this week at TrustedReviews.com, Chrome 6.0 will make browsing faster with “predictive pre-connections.” As the article explains it, these predictive pre-connections will “analyse a users browsing habits over time and automatically load the most likely places you’re going to want to click in the background.”

Is there a privacy issue at stake if Google is predicting what websites you are going to visit based on your previous browsing history?

Twitter Fights Court Order to Reveal Anonymous Users

Time Magazine explores a pending feud between Twitter and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett. Corbett, who is running for governor in the fall, successfully petitioned a grand jury to subpoena information about two Twitter users who were critical of him. Twitter is fighting the court order and has pledged not to reveal information about its users unless it absolutely has to. According to Corbett’s people, the subpoena was “related to the an open case heading for sentencing and that the point of the subpoena was not to silence any criticism of Corbett.”

It’s a good thing it wasn’t meant to silence any criticism, because, according to the Time article, the two Twitter users cited in the subpoena have done nothing but ratchet up their criticism of the politician.

Understanding the “Privacy Paradox”

In an article for Psychology Today, Rob Doyle discusses the “Privacy Paradox.” According to the article, the Privacy Paradox relates to a number of studies in cyberpsychology that show there is no meaningful connection between fear over privacy issues and actual maintenance of privacy. It is easy to see the Privacy Paradox in action, just look at how few people have actually left Facebook over privacy issues.