If Facebook's 400 million users could collectively post a status update, it might read "concerned." Fans are growing increasingly frustrated with the site's labyrinthine network of privacy settings, reports The New York Times — an impenetrable system that many feel lets the company get away with selling its users' private information to advertisers. "'How do i delete my facebook account' was among the top 20 trending searches on Google Hot Trends" this week, notes The Wall Street Journal, and even U.S. senators have voiced concerns. Here, a numbers run-down of Facebook's "outrageous" privacy policy:
5,830
Length, in words, of Facebook's current privacy policy (last revised on April 22)
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4,543
Length, in words, of the United States Constitution
1,004
Word count of Facebook's original privacy statement from 2004
1,203
Length, in words, of rival networking site Twitter's current privacy policy
45,000
Word count of Facebook's privacy-related Frequently Asked Questions
47,094
Word count of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
50
Number of settings Facebook users must adjust to keep the site from sharing private information with third parties
170
Number of different options users must choose from to keep Facebook from sharing their information
2
Number of minutes The Huffington Post says it takes to secure your profile if you follow their handy guide
4,000
Number of Harvard students that a 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, reportedly called "dumb f**ks" in 2003 for providing him with their private information for an early version of the site. "If you ever need info about anyone at Harvard," the teenager boasted to a friend, "just ask."
400 million
Current number of active Facebook users worldwide
176.3 billion
Number of advertisements displayed on Facebook in the first three months of 2010
$1.2-2 billion
Revenue analysts expect Facebook to generate this year
$11 billion
The current estimated value of Facebook
Sources: NY Times (2), Business Insider (2), Forbes, Facebook, WSJ, Guardian
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