Facebook CEO admits to errors in privacy

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, has finally come forward to confront his company’s problems dealing with privacy on its popular social networking website. Zuckerberg sent a letter to a tech blogger Robert Scoble on Sunday in which admitted that his company’s site had made “a bunch of mistakes” but said he hoped they would be able to learn from them, and promised that in the end the company would be able to adapt and provide users with a better and safer experience.

Zuckerberg also addressed privacy concerns with Facebook in an op-ed piece published Monday in the Washington Post. The newspaper piece focused on the website’s complicated privacy controls and the complaints that have arisen regarding them. Zuckerberg promised that in the coming weeks Facebook will work hard to put easier to use controls in place and also provide better control over third-party services. The letter to Scoble on Sunday and Monday’s op-ed piece were the first comments from Facebook’s CEO in the wake of several privacy glitches and the resulting public uproar.

Facebook boasts nearly 500 million users but finds itself fighting to defend its reputation in the wake of several glitches this year that have damaged its reputation. In recent months glitches have allowed some users to view their friend’s private chat logs and some users even received private messages not intended for them on accident. The site has found itself under fire as a result of the glitches and faced backlash over its confusing privacy controls.