Facebook accessing user data again, this time to defend workers

Facebook gathers intelligence from its platform to identify people who threaten the firm or its workers, the social network said Thursday in response to media reports of the security tactic. CNBC reported that it interviewed more than a dozen former Facebook security employees, some of whom questioned the ethics of what was portrayed as an unclearly defined practice at the leading social network.

Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison told AFP that the company’s physical security team exists to keep workers safe and that strict processes are in place to protect people’s privacy. “Any suggestion our on-site physical security team has overstepped is absolutely false,” Harrison said.”They use industry-standard measures to assess and address credible threats of violence against our employees and our company, and refer these threats to law enforcement when necessary.”