In today’s Quick Hits, thoughts on Facebook’s power, teen online privacy, and why taking steps to protect yourself from junk e-mail can end up causing you to miss out on important privacy notices.

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Phone Thief Accidentally Uploads Picture of Himself to Victim’s Facebook Page

A thief may have unwittingly outed himself when he snapped a picture using a stolen mobile phone. According to ABC News, “police in Henry County, Ga., said they now believe the thief grabbed [the victim's] cellphone, took a picture of himself and unwittingly uploaded it to her Facebook page, which automatically synced with her phone.” In this case, the woman’s predilection for sharing all of her cell phone photos online (something that we might usually recommend against) may have actually helped her.

Op-Ed: Facebook’s Power Should Worry Us All

In an op-ed for the National Times, Julian Lee writes that Facebook’s power is “unsettling,” saying “if Facebook was a government agency, its power would be as undisputed as it would be frightening.” Lee’s incisive commentary points out that legal protections lag far behind technology and that Web companies like Facebook have a practically unchecked ability to enact new privacy-invasive features with little fear of punishment. At the end of his piece, Lee touches on the idea that “free” Internet service aren’t really free saying, “it’s the price we pay for such free services, the Faustian pact into which we have entered in order to survive in an age of constant connectivity where the tentacles of Facebook — with its ambition to be the “identity platform” — are extending to every corner of the internet.”

How News Outlets Rank in Privacy Protection for “Frictionless Sharing”

With its new “Frictionless Sharing” feature, Facebook has teamed up with third-party websites to stream a user’s Web habits directly to his or her profile. This feature, which is unnerving to many privacy advocates, is already in place with many news websites. But not all news organizations give users the same level of privacy protection. This article from Inside Facebook discusses all of the third-party news organizations using frictionless sharing and rates them according to how much control they offer users over sharing.

How Privacy Measures Can Impact E-Mail Disclosures About Personal Privacy

In its bid to buy a massive list of e-mail addresses from bankrupt book chain Borders, Barnes & Noble was forced to send an e-mail to Borders’ customers giving them 15 days to opt out of sharing information with the new company. Ironically, as Forbes’ Kashmir Hill explains, this disclosure e-mail might not make it to all customers if they’ve taken certain steps to protect their privacy. Hill writes that “most folks who signed up for Borders accounts, or any company account, usually hand over their ‘junk e-mail address.’”

Because these aren’t the accounts people usually check (in order to keep them from massive amounts of spam), they might miss the notice. Similarly, Hill notes that because she had unsubscribed from Borders e-mail list long ago: “I was unsubscribed from a future email that would tell me that my data would be sold to another company.” In both of these cases, the company isn’t legally in the wrong, but the user still doesn’t get the disclosure, demonstrating the complexity of online privacy protections.

Survey Reveals Kids Have Awareness of Online Privacy

In this video interview with CBS News, Yahoo! Web Life Editor Heather Cabot talks about a new survey that shows kids are much savvier about online privacy than parents give them credit for, while also offering advice about “how parents can drive home the message home about the importance of online privacy.”

In today’s Quick Hits, teens and young adults talk about having their online accounts hacked, Facebook readies its new design rollout, and an artist uses trash to teach about personal privacy violations.

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3 in 10 Teens Admit Having Facebook Hacked

A new study from the AP and MTV reveals that a large percentage of teens (30%) have had their online accounts hacked, more than double the number from 2009. More distressing is the apparent attitude regarding hacking. The Wall Street Journal quotes a handful of teens and young adults who treat hacking as no big deal. Some say it’s only for fun and that they know who is doing it, so it’s okay. Others, however, are distressed by the hacking. The survey showed that 46% of respondents were upset by a hacking attack and concerned about how it might affect their image.

Protecting Privacy on New Facebook

The Los Angeles Times has an article on Facebook’s new-look profiles and how users can protect their privacy once the new design rolls out. The article goes into detail on how some of the new tweaks may compromise privacy, including the little-known fact that current privacy settings aren’t automatically applied to old posts that will appear on user’s timelines.

Artist Uses Mark Zuckerberg’s Trash to Make Statement About Sharing

A street artist named XVALA has taken to Silicon Valley to make a statement about information sharing and personal privacy violations. According to the Los Angeles Times, “the first of the series, ‘Mark Zuckerberg’s Not Very Well Hung Hanger,’ features a wire coat hanger taken from Zuckerberg’s trash can. XVALA bent the hanger by hand to show Zuckerberg’s ‘manhood’ and painted it blue, the color of Facebook’s logo.” In a statement, the artist said, “I wanted to ‘expose’ Zuckerberg like he exposes Facebook users, daily.”

How to Block Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ From Tracking Data

In an article for PCWorld, Paul Venezia explains why it’s so difficult to keep social networking sites from tracking your browsing information across the web and some of the ways you can try to keep your personal data private. As Venezia explains,  ”for normal people, this situation is extremely difficult to control,” which is why social media companies are so attractive to advertisers. The data on the profile itself, paired with browsing information, is more than enough to learn an individual’s entire life story.

Facebook Shares More Details on Makeover

Inside Facebook has an insightful article with Facebook product manager Carl Sjogreen about the company’s new-look profiles and some of the safety measures in place to prevent application developers from using the “Frictionless Sharing” Open Graph platform to send out spam messages. Facebook’s balancing act between consumers and app developers is tricky, but could be very valuable for the company.

As Inside Facebook writes, “Facebook is preparing to make a major change to how users express themselves with the rollout of Timeline. It will need to clearly communicate the privacy implications of ready access to old content in order to avoid backlash. It will also need to strike a proper balance between a clean user experience and an attractive Open Graph application development Platform. If Facebook can navigate these two pitfalls, Timeline could become the richest way to represent one’s identity online.”

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about the differences between European and American privacy policies, a congressional privacy hearing, why “Daily Deals” might be bad for small businesses, and one man’s experience writing about the hacker collective Anonymous.

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Lessons from Europe on Internet Privacy

In an interesting segment for Marketplace radio, Paul Schwartz, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and a director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, talks about the differences between European and American privacy policies and how the U.S. could learn from Europe’s more comprehensive privacy laws.

Consumer Advocates Criticize Congressional Privacy Hearing

USA Today tech reporter Byron Acohido writes that consumer privacy groups are upset with Rep. Mary Bono Mack’s planned congressional hearing today to discuss Internet privacy issues. According to the report, critics are concerned that the hearing “is being staged to give short shrift to how Europe has championed privacy rights for individual citizens” and that the hearing has an industry-focused agenda that doesn’t adequately take into account consumer concerns. In her defense, Bono Mack says she is trying to find “a sweet spot between too much regulation and no regulation at all,” a tricky balancing act that has plagued numerous privacy proposals.

Report Shows How Daily Deals Can Damage a Small Business Online Reputation

Econsultancy shares the findings of a new MIT Technology Review report that shows how a “Daily Deal” offering can negatively impact a business’ online reputation on consumer review websites. According to the report, “ Groupon deal seems to have an adverse impact on reputation as measured by Yelp ratings. Their analysis shows that while the number of reviews increases signifificantly due to daily deals, average rating scores from reviewers who mention daily deals are about 10% lower than scores of their peers.” These findings suggest that small business owners should be very careful about how they use “Daily Deal” services, particularly with regard to their online reputations.

The Dangers of Writing a Book About Anonymous

In a Huffington Post column, Cole Stryker talks about the many threats he’s received from the hacker group Anonymous following the publication of his book “Epic Win for Anonymous: How 4chan’s Army Conquered the Web.” Stryker writes that he wasn’t, and still isn’t, afraid of Anonymous, writing that the group is “actually pretty ineffectual when you don’t give them the tools they need to engage in ‘life-ruining tactics,’ also known as data mining or social engineering. There are no nude pics of me being passed around on 4chan because there are no nude pics of me anywhere.”

In today’s Quick Hits, an A-List starlet becomes the victim of an embarrassing cell phone hack, an Internet troll is given a jail sentence for mocking dead teens online, and FOSI has some uplifting information on teens and online safety.

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Scarlett Johansson Working with FBI After Nude Cellphone Photos Leaked Online

TMZ reports that A-List actress Scarlett Johansson is seeking assistance from the FBI to help track down the individual responsible for hacking into her cell phone and posting self-taken nude photos online. Johansson isn’t the first celebrity to have nude photos wind up online. Actresses Vanessa Hudgens and Jessica Alba also have been the victims of hackers seeking out illicit images.

Family Online Safety Institute Survey Shows 96% of Parents Talk to Kids About Online Safety

A new survey from the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) found that 96% of parents have had a conversation with their kids about what they should and should not do online. The survey also revealed that 93% of parents set rules about Internet use. These findings suggest that more parents are becoming aware of the importance of online safety issues and taking smart, proactive steps to protect their kids online.

Facebook Representatives Gear Up for Congressional Hearing

Facebook representatives are scheduled to appear before a congressional hearing today on the subject of children’s online safety. According to CBS News, “The appearance by Facebook officials follows one last week by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, who also met with members of Congress about privacy issues.” At issue is how websites track information about Internet users while they browse the Web. Several members of Congress believe that there should be laws in place to prevent Web companies from collecting data on children. Web companies have disagreed with this stance, arguing that legislation will be too unwieldy.

Facebook Introduces Smart Lists Privacy Feature

Yesterday, Facebook announced a new privacy feature that is similar in function to Google+’s “Social Circles” feature. According to the Washington Post, “the optional features include smart lists, which automatically group a users’ friends into work, school, family and location-based groups, which can be edited by the user.” Facebook’s recent push to offer more privacy controls comes on the heels of Google’s launch of Google+, which was widely praised for its intuitive privacy settings.

25-Year-Old Internet Troll Jailed for Mocking Dead Teens Online

In the U.K., a 25-year-old man has been jailed for 18 weeks after he was arrested for sending mocking messages to the families of two dead teenagers online. The man, who did not know the victims and lived alone, pleaded guilty to two counts of sending malicious communications. In his ruling, the judge stated that the offenses were so serious that “only a custodial sentence could be justified.” As part of the sentence, the man must also refrain from using social networking websites for five years and inform police when he acquires a new computer or web-enabled phone.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about a poorly planned social media promotion by Qantas, why you should secure your Google account, the social media savvy of Canadian teens, and an interesting case involving sexy photos on a stolen laptop.

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Qantas Apologizes Over ‘Blackface’ Photo in Promotional Contest

Qantas sheepishly apologized to the public after the Australian airline chose a picture of two men wearing blackface as the winner of a promotional contest. According to the Daily Mail, “The airline had offered two tickets to the deciding game of the Bledisloe Cup between Australia and New Zealand national rugby teams in Brisbane on Saturday night… The tickets were awarded to two Wallabies fans who dressed up in ‘afro’ wigs, daubed black paint on their faces and wore the Australian rugby green-and-gold uniform. The pair said they were copying their ‘favourite player’, Fijian-born flanker Wallabies flanker Radike Samo, by blacking up their faces, arms and legs.” While Samo himself was not offended by the fans, even posing for a picture with them, members of the public expressed outrage at the “racist” photos, leading Qantas to remove the offending tweet and issue an apology.

How To Secure Your Google Accounts

From Gmail to Google Reader, avid Google users may have a lot of information tied up in their Google accounts. As Angela West at PCWorld explains, “For many of us, a Gmail password is not just a Gmail password. It’s a passport to our Google Docs account, our AdWords campaigns, our personal Google calendars, Google Docs, and more. That’s not to mention access to Gmail itself, through which someone can find tax returns, private email conversations, and other data to pull off identity or credit card theft. If you are using Google business apps, you risk damage to your company if staff members’ accounts are insecure.”

In the rest of her article, West offers four tips on how to secure your Google account from hackers and keep your personal information protected.

Canadian Youth More Likely to Use Privacy Filters Online

Younger Canadian social media users are more likely to share content online, but they are also more likely to use privacy filters to protect their content. Quoting a CBC report, “a study released on Aug. 25 by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner found those aged 18 to 34 are more likely to use social media sites, but are also more likely to be aware of and to use restrictive privacy controls compared to older Canadians.” Just because teens are digital natives, however, doesn’t mean they are always using social media safely. As one researcher explains, “although teens may be more familiar with the technology, they are also less mature and more likely to take risks in terms of what they post.”

Court Case Raises Interesting Questions About Privacy of Information on Stolen Laptops

Forbes privacy blogger Kashmir Hill writes about an interesting new court case that delves into some complex privacy issues. The case involves a school teacher who unknowingly purchased a stolen laptop from a student. The teacher then used the laptop to share sexually explicit material with her long-distance boyfriend. When the school tracked the laptop using remote access software, they were able to gain access to the explicit content and shared it with police. The police then contacted the teacher over the laptop and bullied her about the pictures. Now, the teacher is suing the school and police department for an invasion of privacy in sharing the photos. Traditionally, content on a stolen piece of property would not be protected, but because the teacher was unaware that the laptop was stolen, a judge has decided to let the case proceed.

In today’s Quick Hits, we share the fallout from a college golf team’s provocative Facebook photo, the story of a gangster’s Facebook undoing, and information on a new privacy lawsuit against the tracking firm comScore.

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College Golf Team Suspended Over Nude Facebook Photo

The Bethany College men’s golf team thought it would be a pretty good gag to take a team picture in the nude, with only golf equipment covering their (ahem) putters. When they posted the picture on Facebook, however, they quickly earned the wrath of their coach and school officials who suspended the team from playing in three upcoming tournaments. The team’s captain is appealing the decision.

Facebook Job Recruiting May Be the Wave of the Future

Many Facebook users go out of their way to keep their profiles hidden from job recruiters, but this Reuters article suggests that Facebook recruiting may be the wave of the future for hiring managers. Thanks to Facebook’s extensive built-in social networks, making referrals for jobs would be much easier, just one of the many reasons why hiring managers might find Facebook recruiting useful.

Mobster Arrested After Girlfriend’s Facebook Photo Reveals His Location

An Italian mobster was tracked down and arrested in Spain after his girlfriend posted pictures to Facebook that gave away the pair’s precise location. According to The Daily Mail, the woman “published several photos on Facebook of her outside upmarket Marbella nightspot Nikki Beach Club where the couple were staying” allowing police to swoop in and arrest the individual with no resistance. The mobster had been on the run for nearly a decade when he was discovered.

Tracking Website comScore Sued Over Privacy Violations

The online tracking company comScore has been charged with “surreptitiously collecting Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords and other data from consumer systems” according to a new lawsuit filed in federal court. According to ComputerWorld, “the lawsuit characterized comScore’s software as intrusive surveillance tools that allowed the company to monitor every keystroke and every action taken by a user on the Internet.” A comScore spokesman has called the lawsuit meritless and pledged that the company would fight it.

Privacy Commissioner Wants Canadians to Be Smarter About Mobile Phone Security

Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart is asking Canadian citizens to be more careful with their mobile phones following a survey which revealed that “just four in 10 [respondents] use password locks on their mobile devices or adjust their settings to limit access to personal information stored on such gadgets.” Stoddart has been one of the world’s foremost personal privacy advocates and has helped Canada lead the charge in forcing companies to improve online privacy protections for consumers.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Groupon’s privacy policies, why one German official has a problem with Facebook, and a political candidate’s Facebook faux-pas.

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Groupon Explains Location Privacy Policies

In response to Congressional inquiries about the company’s recently privacy policy changes, Groupon has issued a statement clarifying its stance on location tracking. Kashmir Hill at Forbes writes that Groupon “wants to start collecting location information from phones — even when the Groupon app is not on — in order to tell people about deals in their vicinity.” According to Groupon, this can only happen with a customer’s consent, but Congressmen Ed Markey and Joe Barton still warned the company not to violate user privacy.

German Privacy Watchdog Orders State Institutions to Shut Down Facebook Pages and “Like” Buttons

Claiming a violation of German and European Union data privacy laws, Thilo Weichert, Data Protection Commissioner for Schleswig-Holstein, “ordered state institutions to shut down [Facebook] fan pages…and remove the [Facebook] ‘Like’ button from their websites.” Facebook disputes Weicher’s allegations that the company tracks and stores user data for two years, but did admit that it accesses technical information about the user, such as an IP address. Weichert’s order demonstrates how Germany and the United States treat the subject of privacy.

Facebook Records Which Profiles You Visit the Most

Facebook collects a wide range of data on its users, but one of the more interesting things Facebook records is which profiles you visit the most. Zack Whittaker at ZDNet explains how this works, writing “Facebook uses a server-side script, loaded when you use the site, called first_degree.php. This acts as a ranking algorithm, likely to be based on those who you interact with, the profiles you visit, who you chat and communicate with and those who you have recently become acquainted with.  The higher the negative number, the more likely the person attached to it will display in Facebook’s autocomplete search — at the top of the window.”

Canadian Politician Apologizes for Facebook Jokes

A Canadian politician recently apologized for several off-color jokes on his Facebook profile, saying “If I could do it again, I probably wouldn’t have posted it.” The jokes, which were made prior to his decision to run for office, tried to shrug off the Facebook posts saying they represented his “taste in humor,” but acknowledged that they may have offended some. The candidate’s efforts to distance himself from his Facebook profile represent a new reality for politicians seeking election in the digital age.

Facebook Issues Security Guide for Teachers, Students, and Parents

In an effort to address concerns over security, privacy, and bullying, Facebook has published a free, 20-page guide titled “A Guide to Facebook Security.” PCWorld writes that “the pamphlet is available on the site and was co-written by security experts Linda McCarthy and Keith Watson, and editor and teacher Denise Weldon-Siviy.”

In today’s Quick Hits, we share a novel way to sign-in to Facebook, talk about Facebook monitoring tools, offer a warning on recent social media scams, and discuss efforts to educate at-risk Internet users.

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Webcam Lets You Log-in to Facebook with Your Face

A new webcam called YouCam 5 is using facial recognition technology in an unusual and interesting way. According to PCMag.com, YouCam 5 has a feature called “Face Log-in” that, as the name suggests, allows users to log-in to Web services such as Facebook with their face. The software will also log you out of your service if it detects that your face isn’t in front of the camera. Could YouCam represent a new way of protecting oneself from online impersonators and account hackers?

Wall Street Journal Reviews Facebook Monitoring Tool

In a lengthy piece at The Wall Street Journal, Walter Mossberg reviews the social media monitoring tool SocialGuard, which is designed to help parents protect their children on websites like Facebook. According to Mossberg, the service operates in the background sending e-mails when it finds objectionable content, meaning parents don’t have to “intrude” into their child’s Facebook experience. However, there are drawbacks, including the fact that the software can’t detect all elements of a Facebook profile.

Norway Scams and Amy Winehouse Scams Flourish on Facebook

Again demonstrating how popular news can be used by cybercriminals, scams related to the recent attacks in Oslo, Norway and the death of singer Amy Winehouse have flourished across the Internet. Patrik Runald, senior manager of security research at Websense, notes that “videos are an especially popular lure,” encouraging Web surfers to stick to their trusted news sources if they see a link offering a gruesome or macabre video online.

Consumer Advocates Argue for Internet Education for the Poor and Elderly

As Internet use is becoming more and more ubiquitous, some consumer advocates are pushing for education initiatives and strong consumer protection laws to help the poor and elderly surf the Web safely. At a policy forum event covered by USA Today, Nicol Turner-Lee, Vice President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, said we “don’t want new adopters to face potential harms they’re not ready for.” Given the rise of social media, as well as the growth of data abuse by data miners and marketers, Turner-Lee’s concerns are merited.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about overconfident criminals getting caught after boasting about their crimes online, as well as the feasibility of teaching mandatory social media safety classes in elementary schools.

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Overconfident Criminals Caught on Facebook

They say there’s no such thing as the perfect crime, but it’s especially true when the criminals blab about it on Facebook. This article from CBS News discusses how some criminals were caught after boasting about their crimes on Facebook. Quoting the article, “In Kentucky, one man had his probation revoked for breaking rules that required him to stay alcohol free. A prosecutor tells the Courier-Journal newspaper the man posted pictures of himself drinking – and this, after inviting his probation officer to be his friend on Facebook.”

Online Reputation Management and Reputation Scoring

This article in the Austin-American Statesman discusses the social scoring service Klout and how one’s online reputation, equated here with one’s social networking popularity, can help one gain access to certain special events or products. While the article’s main focus is on social scoring rewards, it also discusses how online reputation can negatively impact an individual’s life, such as during a hiring decision.

Old Dominion Professor Trying to Save Internet History

This article from the Washington Post talks about Old Dominion University Computer Science Professor Michael Nelson’s research into Internet history and his studies into how information is saved and permanently archived online. Quoting the article, “Nelson and some colleagues at Old Dominion and the Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a sort of Internet time machine called Memento . When attached to a browser, it enables the user to search for a Web site as it appeared on some past date, if an archived page exists.”

Australian Schools Experiment with Social Media Classes

Some schools in Australia are considering adding social media safety classes to their curriculum to help fight the growing problem of cyberbullying and also to help students better understand the importance of a good online reputation. According to the Telegraph, Australian parents also back this effort: “The country’s main parents association has backed calls for schools to teach students about online etiquette, privacy protection and the long-term consequences of posting embarrassing or offensive content.” The adoption of mandatory social media safety classes has been discussed throughout the world, but it has yet to catch on in a big way. Perhaps Australia will lead the way and show off a model that works.

Hacker Group Anonymous Banned from Google+; Vows to Create New Social Network

The hacker group Anonymous, which has been linked to a number of high profile cyber attacks in recent months, was booted from the new Google social network Google+ for violating the company’s terms of service. In response, Anonymous has vowed to build its own social network called AnonPlus, which will offer “a social network where there is no fear of censorship, of blackout, nor of holding back” according to a statement from the group.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about the growth of Google+, share some cybersafety advice, and share more evidence that self-regulation among Internet advertisers is flawed.

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Google+ Tops 10 Million Users

After only two weeks, Google’s new social networking site Google+ has accumulated 10 million users, according to Google CEO Larry Page. The incredible growth of Google+ suggests that the service, Google’s latest in a long line of attempts at social networking, may actually be a viable threat to Facebook. Part of the appeal of Google+ is the service’s easy ability to filter contacts into distinct groups or “circles.” Of course, Google’s numbers should be taken with a grain of salt since the company is a legitimate tech giant. Facebook and Twitter took much longer to achieve the same number of users, but they were much smaller at the time by comparison.

British Medical Association Advises Doctors to Avoid Friending Patients Online

The British Medical Association (BMA) recently issued a warning to its members to avoid contacting patients online via social networking websites. According to the Wall Street Journal Health blog, the BMA told its members, “Given the greater accessibility of personal information, entering into informal relationships with patients on sites like Facebook can increase the likelihood of inappropriate boundary transgressions, particularly where previously there existed only a professional relationship between a doctor and patient.”

The BMA’s warning mirrors similar calls from other medical organizations, which are collectively coming to grips with how the Internet, and social media in particular, has changed the doctor-patient dynamic.

UK Survey: Over Half of Parents Use Facebook to Check on Their Kids

According to a new UK survey from the security firm Bullguard, “more than half of parents surveyed said they keep an eye on their children by checking their activity on sites like Facebook.” As reported by Mobiledia.com, the survey revealed that “nearly half of parents check their children’s updates and look at postings, while one-in-three check out tagged photos.” However, parents are not always able to access their child’s page. According to the same study, “Thirty percent of parents say their kids rejected their attempts to ‘friend’ their them,” forcing parents to find alternate means to check up on their kids online.

How To Avoid Cyberstalking and Online Impersonation

This article from the Seattle Weekly offers advice to teens and their parents on how to avoid having their social media accounts violated and used for cyberbullying or cyberstalking. The offer’s sensible suggestions include always logging out of your social media account when you’re finished with your session and never using the “save password” option.

Online Ad Networks Ignoring Self-Regulation

PCWorld reports that, “some online advertising networks continue to track Web users after tracking opt-out requests, even though the networks have promised to honor those questions, according to a new study from Stanford University’s Center for Internet Society.” The study revealed that 33 out of 64 members of the Network Advertising Initiative “left tracking cookies in place after a Web user opted out of targeted ads,” in defiance of the NAI’s stated self-regulatory guidelines. Stanford’s research sheds light on why self-regulatory efforts are not enough to protect consumers from data abuse online.