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Facebook CEO Addresses Privacy Concerns

Last week we reported on the public outcry following changes to Facebook’s privacy policy, and as they have been in the past, Facebook was quick to address the issue. After Congress sent a letter to the company in response to numerous complaints, Facebook executives met last week to begin discussing the issue. Following a report from the Wall Street Journal, which expounded loopholes in the company’s privacy policy, Facebook announced it would be making changes to the privacy policy and settings in the near future. In addition, in today’s op-ed section of the Washington Post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered many questions concerning the site’s privacy policies and settings.

Zuckerberg explained that Facebook is constantly in flux, and with over 400 million registered users, the company is always looking for ways to appease all people. Critics of the new system claim that changing your settings is now a convoluted process and the privacy policy has several loopholes for third parties. Surprisingly, Zuckerberg was quite blunt when addressing the concerns users have raised since the privacy policy was last changed.

“Simply put, many of you thought our controls were too complex. Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted. We just missed the mark,” Zuckerberg wrote.

In an effort to remedy the problems, Zuckerberg said that Facebook would be updating the site with simpler privacy controls and the option to turn off third-party services in the coming weeks. Zuckerberg concluded be reiterating Facebook’s core principles, which include giving users control of their personal information, never giving or selling information to advertisers and maintaining a free online community.

“We will keep building, we will keep listening and we will continue to have a dialogue with everyone who cares enough about Facebook to share their ideas,” Zuckerberg wrote.