Dem presses Zuckerberg on privacy

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) urged Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to do a better job protecting the privacy of his site’s users during a private meeting Thursday on Capitol Hill.

“I emphasized with Mark Zuckerberg the utmost importance of strong consumer protections and how this must be a priority for his company. Hundreds of millions of consumers have already completely integrated their lives with Facebook, so I believe Facebook has an obligation to implement policies that safeguard their customers’ information,” Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said in a statement.

“Mr. Zuckerberg has an opportunity [to] chart a path for companies where they balance profits with what’s right for their users.”

{mosads}Rockefeller has been a frequent critic of Facebook and other Web companies for how they handle their users’ personal information. At a 2011 hearing, he said he was “not a fan” of the social network and earlier that year, he claimed that Zuckerberg and other young people have “no social values.”

“I think [Zuckerberg] was focused on how his business model would work, and he wanted to make it bigger and do it faster than anyone else ever had and nothing I know suggests otherwise,” Rockefeller said in 2011.

The Democratic chairman is pushing legislation that would force Web companies to allow their users to opt out of online tracking. 

Rockefeller said he also discussed “cyber bullying” with Zuckerberg, and that he is pleased that the company is “committing real resources” to addressing the problem. 

The meeting, which included other members of the Senate Commerce Committee, was one of a series that Zuckerberg is attending in Washington with lawmakers. 

“Mark was glad for the opportunity to meet with members of the Commerce Committee for an open and thoughtful conversation about issues including the knowledge economy, expanding Internet access, and online privacy and safety,” a Facebook spokeswoman said.