Facebook does care about privacy, looks out for you 80 trillion times a day

Facebook is once again seeking to cleanse its mucky reputation when it comes to privacy, this time by furnishing the world with new information regarding how it looks after user content and data.

In a briefing with reporters, the social network said it runs a rather sizeable 80 trillion checks every day to ensure any data isn't being wrongly exposed to the world.

The firm also said it conducts 4,000 surveys a day (in 27 languages, no less) directly relating to privacy. Among other things, those results prompted it to start showing on-screen explanations for privacy controls.

Quelling the confusion

Facebook now plans on introducing a host of more explanations, which it hopes will lessen the confusion and misconceptions experienced by users when the company changes tact, as it often has in recent times.

Users will be informed they can change the visibility of old cover photos and it will also offer clarification that when a friend shares content it will only be visible to the person's mutual friends.

The company also plans to introduce an in-line box to explain the differences between public status updates and those meant only for friends.

Two-pronged attack

As well as word of the privacy checks and surveys, Facebook also revealed the logistics behind its privacy efforts.

Responsibilities are split into two teams: the Privacy Product Engineering squad, which builds the consumer-facing settings; and the Privacy Infrastructure Engineering team which works to ensure any unassigned data is locked down.

So, according to Facebook, it does work really, really hard when it comes to protecting its members from the accidental over-sharing of content, despite their desire to have users share with 'everybody.'

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