In today’s Quick Hits, we look back at privacy issues throughout the year, debate the merits of friending parents on Facebook, and talk about online tracking and the FTC.

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Facebook Faces Privacy Concerns in South Korea

Facebook, often a target for concerns over privacy issues, has run into trouble again, this time in South Korea. According to the Washington Post, working from a Bloomberg report, “the Korean Communications Commission called Facebook’s privacy policy “inadequate,” and wants details on how it shares information with third parties. The regulatory agency’s main concern seems to be about user consent over shared information.”

Privacy Named Top Trend of 2010 by ReadWriteWeb

In its end-of-the-year analysis of top tech trends, ReadWriteWeb has put out a piece discussing why privacy was such a big issue in 2010. The article goes into detail on some of the big privacy news items from the year, including issues with Facebook privacy settings, Google’s privacy problems with Google Buzz and Street View, and the recent WikiLeaks saga, among other pertinent issues. For a recap on the privacy issues of 2010, you couldn’t ask for a better article.

Congressman Joe Barton Plans to Maintain Role as Privacy Leader

While Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) lost out to Fred Upton (R-MI) for the role of Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the congressman “plans to keep his position as the co-chair of the privacy caucus next year” and will continue to be active in consumer privacy issues according to The Hill.

New York Times Tech Talk Podcast Discusses Privacy and Online Tracking

In the most recent edition of the New York Times Tech Talk Podcast, host Bettina Edelstein talks with Tanzina Vega, a New York Times media reporter, about the FTC’s proposed “Do Not Track” option that would allow consumers to opt out of advertising networks and decline online tracking. The podcast discusses consumer reaction to the proposal, as well as the concerns voiced by the Internet advertising industry.

Should You Accept a Parent’s Friend Request? [Flowchart]

As more and more older adults begin joining Facebook, their children are faced with the prospect of becoming online friends with their parents. Mashable has a humorous flowchart from Cool Material that helps Facebook users make the difficult choice of accepting or denying their parents’ friend requests. Check it out below.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about social media use in the court room, new stats on Twitter, and how company holiday parties can be dangerous to online reputations.

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Ohio Supreme Court Panel Issues Social Media Recommendations for Judges

Following the lead of other states, a special Supreme Court Panel in Ohio has issued a report offering recommendation for how judges and justices should approach social media websites. The report is less strict than some and says that “friending” lawyers and other individuals who may appear in court is acceptable as those relationships “don’t suggest a close connection in real life.” If an online relationship causes bias, however, the judge must step down from the case.

Jurors’ Social Media Use Throwing Trials Off Track

If judges are being given social media guidelines, perhaps jurors should receive them too. This Reuters report, republished at MSNBC, discusses how social networking use among jurors has caused headaches for prosecutors and judges throughout the country. The article cites a couple of examples of how social media use is setting back trials: “A Florida appellate court in September overturned the manslaughter conviction of a man charged with killing his neighbor, citing the jury foreman’s use of an iPhone to look up the definition of ‘prudent’ in an online dictionary. In June, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals granted a new trial to a sheriff’s deputy convicted of corruption, after finding that a juror had contacted the defendant through MySpace.”

Some legal experts suggest that rather than removing access to social media tools, courts should focus on helping users find information online constructively.

“Who’s Hotter” Site Goes Viral at Boston University

Inspired by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s early social networking attempts, a Boston University student has created a website called RateBU.com, in which students log-on to the site and rate two images of female students presented side-by-side. The images are pulled from photos on Facebook. There has already been some backlash against the site, for being disrespectful to women and for possible privacy concerns. However, the site founder has already covered himself by explaining that the content on the site comes from publicly shared Facebook photos.

Social Media Helps Embarrassing Corporate Christmas Parties Live On in Cyberspace

With the right mix of alcohol and holiday spirits, end-of-the-year company parties can provide embarrassing fodder for employees. The  gossip becomes even more severe when the party spreads online. This article in the Miami Herald discusses the role that social media plays in disseminating evidence of real-life misbehavior, as well as the steps employees should take to make sure they don’t live on in Internet infamy.

Eight Percent of Americans Use Twitter

A new Pew report suggests that eight percent of Americans who go online use Twitter. Of those who use the website, 24% tweet multiple times per day and 72% tweet about their personal lives or interest. Adults aged 18-29 are twice as likely to use Twitter as older adults.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Facebook and LinkedIn, a new Twitter virus, and whether 2011 will be “The Year of Privacy.”

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Why Facebook Redesign Isn’t a Threat to LinkedIn

Although Facebook recently revealed a profile redesign that makes the site more attractive for personal branding, LinkedIn still remains the premiere professional social networking site on the Web. This article in AdAge discusses why LinkedIn is the “social network that will never die” and how, more than ever before, individuals need a place on the web to focus on promoting their positive reputation.

TechCrunch Gets Look at Google’s Social Experiment?

Google’s long-awaited social tool, formerly called Google Me and now called Google+1, has been kept under tight lock and key for the most part. Late yesterday, however, TechCrunch received a tip showing off what may be one element of Google+1. The tool appears to be a toolbar that runs at the top of Google properties such as Gmail or Google Reader. There is a share button, as well as a counter to show how many times the item has been shared. Presumably, Google+1 will be more than just a social toolbar, but so far that’s all we’ve seen.

The United States of Autocomplete

What kind of insight into American culture would we find if we looked at a map of the United States through the lens of Google’s autocomplete function? Generally, we’d see that we’re a country of sports fanatics with a sporadic interest in history, politics, and popular culture. Check out the map for yourself at the website Very Small Array.

SC Magazine: 2011 The Year of Privacy

In a column for IT security magazine SC Magazine, Lysa Myers writes that 2011 will be the year that privacy makes it into the mainstream consciousness as an important issue. Indeed, the signs are already pointing in that direction, with the FTC, White House, and Congress all debating data privacy concerns daily. In addition to making a prediction for the new year, Myers discusses some of the tactics she uses to keep her privacy secure online, including maintaining separate social networking profiles for separate audiences.

New Virus Sweeps Through Twitter Using Goo.gl URL Shortener

A new virus began making its way through Twitter late Monday night and has been affecting users over the last two days. The virus has been spreading via Google’s Goo.gl URL shortener. Twitter is aware of the issue and has been issuing password resets to infected accounts, but the underlying issue, that URL shorteners can be manipulated to spread malware, continues to plague the site.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about cyberbullying, whether teens can go without cell phones and social media, and opposing views on the FTC’s “Do Not Track” proposal.

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New York Times Asks for Feedback from Teens on Bullying Article

In a complimentary feature to the New York Times lengthy cyberbullying article from Sunday, the Times’ Learning Network blog is reaching out to teens to ask how much their parents know about their lives online. The responses to the feature are interesting and reflect a wide range of parenting styles. Some kids say their parents monitor their activity closely, while others say their parents don’t know anything about their digital lives.

Experiment Tests if High School Students Can Go One Week Without Social Networking and Cell Phones

A competitive experiment between rival high schools in Washington will test students’ ability to go one whole week without using social networking websites or texting on their cell phones. About 250 students and teachers from each school will participate in the experiment and there will be “Facebook spies” to make sure the participants obey the rules. Any findings from the experiment will be purely anecdotal, but it will be interesting to see how the tuned-in teens function without instant access to technology.

Ezra Klein: Why Facebook Matters

In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Ezra Klein describes how Facebook is usurping Google’s position as the company most responsible for dictating the order of the Internet. Rather than focusing on an algorithmic solution to determine what is most important, Facebook orders data according to the individual user’s preferences. As Klein writes, “There are lots of factual questions that can’t be answered through social search. I don’t care what my friends think about the temperature of Jupiter’s surface. But there are lots of questions — and thus lots of searches, and lots of money — where what your friends think, and the sites they visit and like, might matter a lot.”

Facebook Supports Texas Anti-Bullying Law

Facebook, long criticized for not taking a more active stance in combatting online harassment, has come out in support of a new anti-bullying law in Texas. According to AllFacebook, “The bill explicitly includes cyber-bullying as a form of harassment that school officials must learn how to identify, prevent, respond to, and report.”

USA Today Offers Dueling Op-Eds on Do Not Track

USA Today’s editorial board recently analyzed the FTC’s “Do Not Track” privacy proposals and came up with two opposing views on the issue. The pro-DNT piece cites polls showing that consumers want the ability to opt out of online tracking. The article also discusses how online tracking, when tied with other aggregate data, can reveal an individual’s identity. In the anti-DNT piece, Steve Sullivan argues that the policy would be bad for business and that comparisons to the popular “Do Not Call” registry are overly simplistic.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Facebook’s profile redesign, how cyberbullying can be difficult for parents to manage, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s changing thoughts on the importance of online privacy.

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Facebook Profile Redesign Makes User Info More Visible

Facebook has begun rolling out a redesign to user profiles that makes certain pieces of information, such as biographical information, friends, and photos, more easily visible and accessible. In an attempt to avoid user protests and privacy concerns, Facebook is allowing users to opt-in to the new design. This article from Inside Facebook goes into deep detail on what the new design looks like and how it affects users. An additional article from Forbes writer Kashmir Hill discusses how Facebook’s profile changes may be an attempt by the site to compete with professional social networking website LinkedIn.

Cyberbullying Puts Parents at Disadvantage

This article in The Globe and Mail, originally published in longer form in the New York Times, discusses cyberbullying and how parents are often at a loss to deal with harassment via cell phones or social networking websites. Offering the story of one woman whose son was being imitated on Facebook, the article explains the many legal steps she had to go through, and the subsequent harassment she received, in order to get to the bottom of her son’s bullying. Cyberbullying expert Parry Aftab is quoted in the piece. For more information on how to stop cyberbullying, visit the Reputation.com Resource Center.

Insurance Companies Profile Customers Online, Increase Data Partnerships

It is no secret that insurance companies use the web to monitor current and potential customers, but if this article from ZDNet is true, they will soon be able to pair the information they find online with a wealth of other data through wide-ranging partnerships with banks, grocery stores, gyms, and more. In his article, Jack Schofield offers some advice on how to avoid giving up data that insurers could use against you, as well as a warning against consumer loyalty cards and other bonus schemes.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg Talks Privacy and More on 60 Minutes

On Sunday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared as a guest on CBS’ 60 Minutes, where he talked about his company and whether he wants to “conquer the whole Internet.” This article from CNN offers some of Zuckerberg’s best quotes. To watch the segment in its entirety, you can visit CBS.com. Perhaps most interesting is Zuckerberg’s seemingly new stance on privacy. When asked about privacy, Zuckerberg said, “I mean, privacy and making sure that people have control over their information is, I think, one of the most fundamental things on the internet.” This is a far cry from Zuckerberg’s previous comment, in which he said privacy is no longer our social norm.