In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about the Playstation Network breach, two new Facebook hires, and a new piece of privacy legislation.

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Canadian Privacy Commissioner Investigating Playstation Network Hack

Canada’s Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, has announced that she will investigate the Playstation Network breach that left millions of users exposed to possible identity theft and fraud. Stoddart has been a major advocate for consumer privacy rights and is known for being aggressive with companies that disregard data privacy. In the past, Stoddart has come down aggressively on Facebook for changes to the site’s privacy policy.

Why It’s Hard to Hold Companies Accountable for Privacy Breaches

This week’s Playstation Network breach is only the latest in a string of incidents that demonstrates how precariously user data is managed by major corporations. In this article for the New York Times Bits Blog, Nick Bilton talks with legal and privacy experts about why it’s so difficult to hold companies accountable when they put user data at risk.

Center for Democracy and Technology Wants Comprehensive Privacy Bill

Echoing a sentiment made by Reputation.com, Center for Democracy and Technology President Leslie Harris told reporters recently that the McCain-Kerry privacy legislation in Congress should not narrowly focus on a “Do Not Track” provision. According to the National Journal, “CDT has long favored comprehensive privacy legislation and was among the first to advocate for a do-not-track option. However, the group is not calling for its inclusion in the Kerry-McCain bill and instead favors the private-sector approaches already taking place.”

Rep. Bono Mack Plans to Introduce Consumer Privacy Legislation

Prompted by the Playstation Network breach, Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) “said Wednesday that she plans to introduce legislation to protect consumer data on the Internet,” according to The Hill blog. Rep. Bono Mack, who leads the Energy and Commerce Trade subcommittee, has advocated for stronger privacy policy in the past, but this is the first time she has introduced legislation on the issue.

Facebook Hires Daytum Founders

According to the New York Times, “Facebook has hired the two founders of Daytum, a Web site that offers tools to record personal data and create visualizations from it.” The two men behind Daytum, Nicholas Felton and Ryan Case, will join the product design team at Facebook. The Dayum data will likely be tasked with developing new ways to visualize the massive amounts of data shared by users on Facebook everyday.

UK Candidate Apologizes Over Facebook Insult

A 21-year-old candidate for local office in the U.K. has resigned after demeaning comments about women appeared on his Facebook page. According to the BBC, the candidate made his error “during a Facebook discussion in which he said he wanted to ‘settle down with someone decent,’” and that “it was ‘impossible to find someone with morals and a bit of self-respect.’” He went on to write, “It’s the ones that look respectable and decent but underneath it all are complete sluts that you got to watch out for.” Representatives from both major political parties criticized the comments.