Facebook Friends its Longtime Privacy Critic
As the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
One of the newest faces at Facebook is privacy advocate Timothy Sparapani, a former senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. And until seven months ago when he joined Facebook, he was a big critic of social networks, fearing that Internet companies were gaining too much control over consumer data, the Washington Post reports.
The Post reports the acquisition of Sparapani as a “sign that one of Silicon Valley’s most influential companies wants to cultivate influence in Washington, and much earlier than its tech titan predecessors Google and Microsoft.”
Sparapani joins the company just as Congress is poised to start placing restrictions on how Internet companies use and collect consumer information.
“We need to be here to define ourselves before someone else does it for us,” Sparapani is quoted saying. “It’s clear we need to be part of the new thinking of Washington—and early in the company’s maturation process.”
