In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Twitter and Facebook security and why facial recognition isn’t on Google’s agenda.

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Twitter Improves Third-Party Privacy Control

In a recent blog post, Twitter announced that it is now giving users more information on how third-party apps are allowed to access their data. According to CNET, “now when you first try to sign into a third-party app using your Twitter credentials, Twitter will display a detailed permissions screen that lists exactly what information the app is requesting.” There’s still no level of granular control for allowing third-party apps, but this change is a welcome one that demonstrates a stronger awareness of consumer privacy.

Eric Schmidt: Facial Recognition is Too Creepy for Google

Could Google someday develop a facial recognition database? Maybe, but they’re not going to according to Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt. Schmidt, speaking at Google’s Big Tent conference, said that a facial recognition program would cross the “creepy line” and is something that Google would be unlikely to develop. However, Schmidt believes it’s just a matter of time before someone develops a facial recognition database, which could have serious privacy implications.

Bing Chief: “Traditional Search is Failing”

Indicating Microsoft’s growing interest in social search technology, Bing search engine director, Stefan Weitz, recently told the Huffington Post that “Traditional search is failing. The standard notion of search…looking at the texts in the page, the backlinks, all that stuff doesn’t work anymore.” Bing, via its partnership with Facebook, wants to perfect social search, or, as Weitz says, “to deliver knowledge by understanding intent.” By filtering content based on a user’s social connections, Bing hopes to deliver highly specific and relevant results.

Facebook Users Contribute to Facebook Security Problems

Facebook is big, and sometimes unwieldy when it comes to security issues, but a big part of the company’s problems isn’t related to its infrastructure, but rather how easily users fall for scams. This article in TIME’s Techland blog discusses the growing sophistication of Facebook criminals, and how many Facebook users simply aren’t web savvy enough to screen themselves against “spear phishing” attacks and other highly targeted scams.

Google and Apple Representatives Face Second Privacy Hearing Today

For the second time in the last month, “executives from Apple and Google are set to testify [today] at a Senate hearing about the extent to which iPhones and handheld wireless devices running Google’s Android software track the location of their users and store detailed histories of their movements.” Since the first hearing, both companies have taken action to protect location data, but the issue persists as privacy has become an important subject for many politicians.