Happy Memorial Day! In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Facebook’s influence in our nation’s capitol, discuss whether a politician sent a naughty tweet to one of his followers, and Google’s Street View launch in India.

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Could Facebook’s Powerful Friends Hurt Users?

An interesting segment on NPR’s Morning Edition explored Facebook’s extensive relationships with power brokers in Washington D.C. From the President himself to many influential members of Congress, Facebook has a lot of important friends and that has raised concern among some consumer activists. The NPR segment discusses whether Facebook’s cozy ties could lead to favorable treatment when it comes time to pass and enforce consumer privacy protections.

Rep. Anthony Weiner Sends Lewd Tweet to Follower; Claims Account Was Hacked

According to The Hill, “Rep. Anthony Weiner has signaled that his Twitter feed was recently hacked, after a sexually suggestive picture was sent from his account to a female follower.” Unlike some politicians who have shut down their accounts following an embarrassment such as this, Weiner has continued using Twitter to connect with his followers and deny the lewd tweet was anything but a hacker attack.

SB 242 Privacy Proposal Fails to Pass California Senate

State Sen. Ellen Corbett’s much-debated online privacy bill, SB 242, failed to pass in the California Senate last week. The bill, which was opposed by social networking companies like Twitter and Facebook, would have required social media websites to create an opt-in to sharing prior to joining the site and also gave parents a high level of control over their children’s online profiles. The bill will be reintroduced soon.

Google Launches Street View in India

Google launched its popular, but controversial Street View program in India last week, and it appears that the company has learned lessons from its previous privacy missteps. According to the Wall Street Journal, “StreetView vehicles in India aren’t collecting information from wireless networks,” but rather from cellular towers.