吃瓜大本营

The big news in the business world this week is Facebook鈥檚 ongoing , where the company is selling shares to the public based on an estimated value of around one hundred billion dollars. [Or, as Dr. Evil would say: .]

Where does that kind of valuation come from?

Certainly, some of it comes from Facebook鈥檚 infrastructure and employees. But most of that value comes from Facebook鈥檚 users. Investors are willing to put a price tag like that on Facebook because close to a billion people around the world connect and share with others through Facebook. These investors hope that Facebook will be able to turn its 鈥溾�� about its users into advertising and other revenue.

The question is: will Facebook generate revenue while respecting privacy and protecting user data or by abusing its most valuable asset?

As the , Facebook needs to 鈥渂etter match ads to people鈥� while it 鈥渁void[s] violating its users鈥� perceived sense of privacy.鈥� That鈥檚 an odd way of phrasing it, though: suggesting that it鈥檚 only users鈥� perceived sense of privacy in play makes it sound like there鈥檚 nothing more than hurt feelings at stake. But with the wealth of intimate information that Facebook collects directly and indirectly about its users鈥攆rom sexual orientation to religious beliefs to current location鈥攖he potential to be involuntarily outed, stalked, harassed, or profiled is very real.

And Facebook doesn鈥檛 have the best record of protecting this information. In particular, we鈥檝e called on Facebook to that allows third party apps that a user doesn鈥檛 run herself to access her data without her knowledge, but that鈥檚 one of several privacy concerns that remain unaddressed. As a result, recent polls find that . Not coincidentally, the same poll shows that most users rarely or never click on ads on Facebook and wouldn鈥檛 feel safe making a financial transaction through Facebook.

That鈥檚 why this IPO is an opportunity not only for investors but for Facebook users too. Facebook is now accountable to its shareholders to generate a return on their investment鈥攂ut it can only do so if users trust it enough to continue to make it a part of their online lives. So the IPO is a great opportunity to pressure Facebook to protect what makes it so valuable: its users鈥� data.

We need to keep pushing Facebook to protect our privacy by giving users better control of the information that is shared with third parties and with Facebook itself. We have an demanding that Facebook take steps to better protect our personal information.

And after you鈥檝e signed it, you might even share it with your friends on Facebook鈥�