In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Facebook’s dramatic recent changes, why it can be difficult to develop effective social media policies, and concern on Capitol Hill over OnStar’s recent privacy policy tweaks.

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Facebook “Frictionless Sharing” a Potential Privacy Problem

One of Facebook’s new changes following its dramatic redesign is a feature called “frictionless sharing.” The idea behind frictionless sharing is that users can allow certain online activities to be shared with friends without manually updating their profiles. However, as this PCWorld article points out, frictionless sharing raises some very serious privacy concerns. Quoting the article, “The new functionality is reminiscent of Beacon, Facebook’s now defunct over-sharing system that landed the social network in hot water in 2007. Under the Beacon plan, if you bought movie tickets from the Fandango site, say, Facebook would alert your Facebook friends.”

Frictionless sharing is different than Beacon, because it requires explicit authorization before sharing info, but the same issue applies. You don’t want to share certain information on Facebook, but Facebook continues to make it easier and easier to share.

10 Things to Know About the New Facebook

The Detroit Free Press has a nice write-up of Facebook’s recent design overhaul and what it means for users. In the article, Mark Smith touches on many possible privacy issues related to the makeover and also how users can protect themselves from sharing too much sensitive data online.

Companies Have Hard Time With Facebook Policies

To protect their bottom lines, companies need to develop smart social media policies for employees. But many companies are having a hard time coming up with policies that don’t restrict employees’ freedom of speech, leading to several cases in which the National Labor Relations Board has helped employees who were fired for online comments regain their employment. This article from ABC News discusses the NLRB’s efforts to help employees who have been wrongfully terminated as well as companies who need to establish social media policies as part of a risk management strategy.

Sen. Chuck Schumer Calls for Probe Into OnStar Privacy Changes

Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has been active in consumer privacy issues in Congress, has called for the FTC to launch an investigation into OnStar and the company’s recent privacy policy changes. Last week, OnStar made a switch to its privacy policy that gave the company a lot more room to share customer data with third-parties.

Couple Ask Facebook to Name Unborn Baby

An Illinois couple has asked Facebook (all 800 million members) to help them pick a name for their unborn child. Perhaps anticipating that the Web could come up with something terrible, they have set-up a poll with their four favorite names and asked for votes. The four choices are McKenna, Madelyn, Addilyne, and Emily.

In today’s Quick Hits, we share thoughts on Facebook’s f8 announcements, a survey showing opposition to Facebook’s news feed changes, a story about the online reputation perils of college newspapers, and the Australian government’s concerns over Internet privacy.

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Facebook Profile Overhaul Raises Privacy Concerns

Yesterday at the company’s annual f8 developer’s conference, Facebook premiered a drastically new look for its profiles called “Timeline.” Timeline allows users to see everything they’ve posted on Facebook over the course of their time on the site, making much more information available to friends and followers. While many were excited about this change, others were concerned about the privacy implications of having so much data readily available. Facebook expert Mari Smith discussed the changes with USA Today and touched on these privacy concerns. Quoting the article, “Among her own vast online community, [Smith] said she’d heard complaints that Facebook was asking users to share too much information and that there were overtones of Big Brother.”

Facebook Users Hate Changes by 5 to 1 Ratio

According to a national phone survey, Facebook users dislike the company’s recent changes to the News Feed by a ratio of 5 to 1. Though the sample size of the survey was small compared to Facebook’s global userbase, it begs an intriguing question. If people are upset over changes to the news feed, how will they feel when the entire profile changes to the Timeline model shown at yesterday’s f8 conference?

Digitization of College Newspapers Causing Reputation Problems for Alumni

By and large, people are different during their college years than they are as professionals. But, as more and more colleges put their newspaper archives online, alumni are learning that the things they did in college are catching up with them and, in some cases, damaging their online reputations. This article from USA Today discusses how college newspaper articles, both old and new, can cause reputation problems for college students and graduates.

Australian Privacy Watchdog Gives Warning on Facebook Privacy

Add Australia to the list of countries that have taken exception with the amount of personal data that Facebook and other social networking websites collect about users. According to The Australian, Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim recently issued a statement saying that “social networking sites needed to ensure their users knew exactly how and when their personal information would be used.” Pilgrim’s concern, echoed by academics, is that erosion of privacy will be normalized unless people are made explicitly aware of how much information they are sharing online.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about Facebook big announcements (and why they might make Facebook users angry), the evolution of facial recognition technology, and Rick Santorum’s Google problem.

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Facebook Set to Announce Massive Changes

Mashable’s Ben Parr reports that Facebook is going to announce several massive changes to its service today. According to Parr, “The changes Facebook will roll out [today] are designed to enhance the emotional connection its users have to each other through Facebook. These changes will make Facebook a place where nearly everything in your life is enhanced by your social graph. These changes will make it so you know your friends better than you ever thought you could.” One has to wonder what these changes mean for personal privacy, which is something that Facebook has overlooked in the past. Click here to check out a live feed of Facebook’s f8 conference.

Facebook Users Outraged Over Profile Changes

Fox News reports that Facebook users are outraged over the site’s recent changes to the news feed function, which now shows a separate tab of “top stories.” User reaction over Facebook changes have usually been negative before eventually tapering off, so this is no surprise, but it does pose an interesting dilemma for the company. If users are upset over relatively small changes, what will they say to the massive changes predicted by Mashable’s Ben Parr in the above article?

Facial Recognition Technology is Just Getting Started

In an article for PCWorld, John P. Mello, Jr. writes that the recent uproar over Facebook’s expansion into facial recognition services is only the beginning for the technology. Mello says that facial recognition technology will soon move into “law enforcement, military use, and targeted advertising” among other endeavors, raising significant privacy concerns. Mello’s article offers some of the most likely scenarios, including many which are in their early stages of development today.

Rick Santorum Asks for Help with his Google Problem

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum has a pretty serious Google problem, and he wants to do something about it. But, according to Santorum, Google isn’t helping. Santorum’s problem began when he offended an extremely popular sex columnist named Dan Savage for demeaning remarks about gay men and women. Afterwards, Savage called on his readers to “Googlebomb” Santorum and link his name to a made-up sexual neologism.

According to Santorum, Google might be more inclined to help him if he were a Democrat. Google countered by saying that it doesn’t remove content, unless it is legally obligated to do so and that the top results reflect the will of the Internet.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about the background check company Social Intelligence, Facebook’s planned profile changes, why oversharing is a security risk, and OnStar’s new privacy policy.

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Senators Have Privacy Concerns Over Social Intelligence Background Check Firm

A few months ago, the social media background check company Social Intelligence made a splash when it received clearance from the FTC to scan Facebook and other social networking websites for background checks on job applicants. Now, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) are curious about the company and have asked Social Intelligence to explain its service in more detail so as to ensure that it doesn’t violate consumer privacy rights. Social Intelligence has agreed to send the information to the senators.

Facebook Planning Major Profile Redesign

According to Mashable, Facebook is planning to unveil a major redesign of user profiles at its f8 developer conference this week. Facebook is no stranger to redesigns, having recently overhauled its privacy controls and made tweaks to its central feature — the News Feed. Mashable reports that the profile changes come as part of Facebook’s overall efforts to make a stronger push into e-commerce.

Security Experts Warn About Oversharing

Sharing too much sensitive personal information online is a major security risk according to security researchers quoted in this BBC news article. The experts warn that home address and birth date information can be used in identity theft attacks and also caution that businesses can lose valuable trade secrets if employees aren’t careful about securing their online accounts.

New OnStar Privacy Policy Allows More Data Sharing

OnStar, the popular technology service for automobiles, recently made changes to its privacy policy that allow the company to share user data more freely and widely. According to CNET, the changes were made in case of a possible OnStar merger, whereby the company would make its user data available to the merging partner. However, it also raises the possibility that OnStar could freely sell user data to a third-party company, which could include an insurance provider, possibly affecting an individual’s premium rates.

In today’s Quick Hits, we talk about a new bullying prevention campaign, an interesting poll about teen attitudes online, a smart privacy change from Foursquare, and the hidden privacy risks of popular technology.

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Facebook and Time Warner Launch Anti-Bullying App

Yesterday, Facebook and Time Warner launched an anti-bullying app called “Stop Bullying: Speak Up.” According to ABC News, the app “offers resources on prevention, and asks children and adults to take an online pledge to speak up if they see bullying.” Cyberbullying is a major concern for children and teens online, and has been cited as a factor in a number of high-profile teen suicides. Facebook’s position as the hub of social life for many teens makes it important for the company to spend time on anti-bullying measures.

Poll Shows Young People Don’t Care About Online Slurs

According to a new Associated Press-MTV poll surveying 14 to 24-year-olds, 71% of respondents said they are more likely “to use slurs online or in text messages than in person” and that “only about half say they are likely to ask someone using such language online to stop.” This apparent disregard has led some experts to worry that young people are becoming desensitized to abusive language and are risking their reputations by using the language online.

Foursquare Makes Privacy Change to Hide Home Addresses

Foursquare recently enacted a new privacy change that allows users to check-in to their homes on the service without exposing their exact location. According to Mashable, “applying the ‘Home’ category will keep the actual address of the venue private to just the user and his or her friends, as well as allow the user to edit the venue or delete it altogether.” This step, while long overdue, is logical and may help bring in more privacy-conscious users to the check-in service.

Can You Use Technology and Protect Your Privacy?

In a comprehensive piece for The Today Show website, Christina DesMarais talks about the privacy concerns associated with a number of popular technologies. Listing everything from cell phones to fax machines, DesMarais explains how modern technology can put your privacy at risk and the steps you should take to help mitigate the amount of information about you online.