Facebook is spreading like a weed across the globe. It has blown past 400m users and will soon be a half-billion users strong. Yet as it has grown, writes John Gapper, its respect for the privacy of its users has steadily eroded.
Unfortunately, Mark Zuckerberg, the 25-year-old who founded Facebook as a private social network for Harvard students, has recently been displaying a disregard bordering on disdain for Facebook users’ right to maintain control over personal information.
Not only has Facebook gradually eroded the privacy rights of its users, but it has done so in a confusing and opaque way. Facebook’s privacy controls are now so complex and hard to understand that many have been nudged into “sharing” a lot, just as Mr Zuckerberg wishes.
