Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ:FB) is coming out with an experimental blockchain group as a part of its objective to find out an innovative solution for its data privacy-related problems. The group will be lead by the former board member of Coinbase and head of Messenger, David Marcus.
The giant social media network is under huge pressure from the users worldwide and is facing the tough task of providing confirmed security options to protect user data. The pressure has increased after the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg was called upon by the U.S. Congress to explain the massive data leaks during the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Marcus To Head Facebook’s Blockchain Group
The announcement regarding the formation of the blockchain group was made by Marcus on his Facebook page earlier this week. Marcus said, “I’m setting up a small group to explore how to best leverage blockchain across Facebook, starting from scratch.” The current head of Messenger who became the board of member of Coinbase in December 2017 has always shown an avid interest in the blockchain-based technology.
Facebook was badly affected when the Cambridge Analytica scandal of December 2015 first revealed how the social media site’s data can be breached. According to reports around 50 million users’ data was illegally harvested by a political consulting firm. Incidentally, the same firm was later on hired by the current president of the U.S. – Donald Trump. This whole incidence unraveled the loopholes in the security system of Facebook creating a mass awareness regarding its vulnerabilities. And that is why the giant networking site is trying various options that will provide 100% security to the users’ data.
Facebook Categorize the Operations Of Blockchain Group
The blockchain group headed by Marcus will be categorized into three separate divisions on the basis of operations. It will include Family of apps (WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook), New Platforms and infra (VR, AR and AI projects of Facebook), and Central Product Services (features like data security, ads, and storage). As of now, it is still not clear how the blockchain technology will be integrated into the platform of Facebook. However, experts believe that the social media giant will most probably use encrypted data storage application for the purpose.
