In today’s Quick Hits, we explore a new smartphone app that throws privacy out the window, talk about Facebook’s Social Ads program, and analyze Sen. Kerry’s privacy bill.

–

How to Opt Out of Social Ads Campaign

Facebook’s new Social Ads campaign, which co-opts a user’s profile picture and name to endorse “liked” brands in customized ads, has a lot of Facebook users feeling uncomfortable.  Specifically, people are worried about what Facebook could do with the program next, like integrate Social Ads for third-party apps. This article from The Atlantic details how to opt out of Social Ads via Facebook’s privacy controls.

Scam Targets Grandparents Over Social Media

A new scam hitting Facebook uses social profiling to con grandparents out of money by posing as needy grandchildren. Security News Daily details how this scam affected one couple, who “received a call on Feb. 15 from a young person pretending to be their grandson. He said he had broken his nose in a car accident, and was now in jail in Canada and needed $2,800 for bail. The scammer used specific family details obtained from the grandson’s Facebook page.” The couple contacted their daughter before sending the money and learned that their grandson was fine, only barely avoiding losing their money.

New Smartphone App Takes Sharing to the Extreme

A new smartphone application called Color has taken a different view on privacy settings than most social networking tools — it doesn’t have any. According to the Wall Street Journal, Color captures a wide range of data via the mobile device, “including GPS location, information from the gyroscope, and even ambient light levels. It uses that data to figure out where the user is — and whether there are other Color users nearby.” If there are other users nearby, Color “automatically puts all of them in the same social network, instantly sharing each others’ photos, videos and messages from inside the app.” For users, Color represents a unique experience. The founder hopes that by giving up privacy, users can see the benefits of sharing in an “open” network.

Christopher Wolf Analyzes Kerry Privacy Bill

Christopher Wolf, the founder and co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, recently posted an analysis of Sen. John Kerry’s draft legislation regarding Internet privacy regulation. In his analysis, Wolf writes that the bill “would impose major and significant new obligations on businesses dealing with personal information.” Currently, Sen. John McCain is co-sponsoring the privacy legislation.

Analyzing the Benefits of Anonymous Commenting

In an interesting column for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Tim Dunlap writes in defense of anonymous online commenting on news stories. Dunlap argues that “pseudonymous commentary should not be conflated with anonymous trolling,” and that it makes for more free discourse. Dunlap’s commentary runs counter to claims from other writers and media organizations who believe that assigning a name to comments keeps conversations more civil.

Pending Supreme Court Case has Major Implications for Privacy

A Center for Democracy and Technology report discusses the pending Supreme Court Case,  Sorrell v. IMS Health. According to the CDT, the case “has serious implications for how privacy protections are interpreted.” In a report, the CDT’s Health Privacy Project team has “taken a look those risks and published an in-depth memo about its findings.”