As lawmakers and regulators ponder sweeping changes to online privacy law, Facebook is working to shape its image on Capitol Hill and avert measures potentially damaging to its information-sharing business.
The world’s largest social-networking site is increasing its Washington office, spending more on lobbying and meeting with lawmakers, congressional staff and privacy experts who question whether the company is adequately protecting the personal information of its 500 million users. Founder Mark Zuckerberg is also on a charm offensive to show he’s on the right side of the debate.
Facebook recently hired its seventh Washington employee and plans to move into new, 8,000-square-foot office space in late April. It is also looking to hire a public policy expert.
They’re all signs that one of Silicon Valley’s most influential companies wants to cultivate influence in Washington and shape privacy policies that could define its business. And it hopes to do so much earlier than tech predecessors Google and Microsoft did.
“We need to be here to define ourselves before someone else does it for us,” says Tim Sparapani, a former privacy expert for the American Civil Liberties Union who joined Facebook in 2009. “It’s clear we need to be part of the new thinking of Washington — and early in the company’s maturation process.”
The moves also come as privately held Facebook is contemplating selling stock to the public next year.
Facebook is well-positioned in a new era of information sharing. To generate about $1 billion in annual advertising revenue, Facebook methodically innovates around strategies that involve getting its members to interact and voluntarily share personal information on the company’s Web pages. It does not share users’ personal information with advertisers and does not sell it to anyone, company spokesman Andrew Noyes says.
Facebook’s beefed-up Washington presence coincides with promises from several lawmakers to seek greater protections of online…