Security-conscious users consider quitting Facebook

Security services company Sophos believes that growing numbers of Facebook users are concerned about privacy on the social networking site. The company ran an online survey asking Facebook users, "Do you think you will quit Facebook over privacy concerns?"

Even given the provocative phrasing of the question, the responses were surprisingly negative. Sixty per cent of the 1,588 respondents indicated that it was "possible" or "highly likely" that they would quit Facebook over privacy concerns. Sixteen per cent stated that they had already quit in response to the lack of protection of privacy. Just twenty four per cent stated categorically that they would not, or were unlikely to, quit Facebook.

Facebook's use of users' data has been the subject of heated discussion in recent weeks. In an interview in January, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg justified changes to the profile page by claiming that previous concepts of privacy were simply outdated. Earlier this month, the US competition authority, the FTC, announced that it intended to take a closer look at Facebook's approach to data protection. The company responded by beefing up its lobbying team. Facebook currently has more than 400 million users.

See also:

• Facebook introduces security measures, a report from The H.
• Facebook, the new phishing target, a report from The H.
• Emails from Facebook contained IP addresses, a report from The H.
• Facebook closes serious security hole, a report from The H.

(crve)