Internal Documents Reveal Facebook Thought About Selling User Data  

The first of the internal Facebook documents recently seized by UK lawmakers has been released, and as expected, they contain damaging information for the social media giant. According to extracts obtained by The Wall Street Journal, Facebook at one time considered selling access to user data.

This revelation is the last thing Facebook needs after a wave of recent data and privacy scandals. According to the documents, the idea was batted around between 2012 and 2014 while the company struggled to make money after it went public.

For its part, Facebook slammed the report, saying the documents are “misleading without additional context” and that, since they are under seal in a California court, the company is unable to “disprove every false accusation.” However, a Facebook representative also tacitly admitted that selling data had indeed been discussed within the company.

“We were trying to figure out how to build a sustainable business,” a company spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal. “We had a lot of internal conversations about how we could do this.”

Facebook also defended itself by saying that it has never sold user data, which is true. However, that’s not the real issue at hand. The problem is that it was even considered, and that Facebook controls so much of our information in the first place.



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