Facebook CEO "doesn't believe in privacy"

"Off record chat w/ Facebook employee. Me: How does Zuck feel about privacy? Response: [laughter] He doesn't believe in it."

Nick Bilton, a blogger for The New York Times' "Bits," let this tidbit slip on Twitter Wednesday, and the remark by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making waves among privacy advocates and average Internet users alike. With Facebook and other social media occupying a greater space online (indeed, Facebook accounts for even more Web traffic than the gargantuan Google search), users are becoming increasingly aware of their rights to information they upload. Facebook, it seems, is manipulating users' personal information with reckless abandon, making data on its users available to corporations, advertisers, and who knows what else, for a tidy profit.

"On Tuesday, four Senators asked the company to only push data to third-parties if users agree to it," WIRED News reported, referring to "a so-called “opt-in” that social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz eschew since it radically cuts down on participation and thus revenues."

However, in light of Zuckerberg's candid revelation, one can only assume Facebook will continue to become less private, but what are the effects of the commodification of personal information? Only time will tell, though Facebook and the concept of online identity might change the way society views the very idea of identity and the self.