Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg recently defended Facebook’s privacy practices in an interview with the BBC, saying that Facebook is extremely protective of user information. Her response came when concerns were raised about Facebook’s targeted advertising.
“Privacy is of the utmost concern and importance to Facebook, and it’s important to us that the people who use our service know that we are very protective of them,” she told the BBC. “It is their data, they have control of it, they share it. When we are able to personalize ads, we are doing that without sharing their private data with any advertisers.”
Sandberg also said that the very concept of being online is “old fashioned,” and that the increase in mobile technology will mean that people are connected all the time. Facebook is obviously looking ahead to that time with its recent interest in drone technology, wearable tech and virtual reality. However, her comments defending Facebook’s privacy policies likely stem from a long-running campaign to sway public favor back to the site after confidence in it was shaken following the high-profile NSA spy scandal last year. A survey last fall showing that many Americans trust Facebook less than the NSA itself shows that the site still has a lot of work to do.
