Facebook to Let Users Vote on Privacy

Come Friday, Facebook will let its more than 900 million users vote for their privacy.

The Menlo Park-based social network said it will let users vote on updates the company made to its privacy policies just before it went public last month.

The changes made it possible for Facebook to open its users to ads on websites outside of the network.

Facebook will also include a new section explaining how it uses information. This is the second time that Facebook has turned to its users over privacy issues.

"In the few short years since we announced this unprecedented process, Facebook has grown from 200 million people into a global community of more than 900 million," Elliot Schrage, Facebook's vice president of communications, public policy and marketing, wrote in a statement. "We’ve also grown from a small private company into a newly public one. Back in 2009, the site governance process enabled us to be proactive in establishing a system of accountability for the policy changes we considered. Since then, our growing relationship with regulators around the world has created a new layer of accountability with respect to our practices and policies."

Users can visit a special site Facebook has set up where users can vote on the new policies until June 8.

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