After coming under immense pressure from the U.S. Congress and users around the world in the wake of Cambridge Analytica data leak, Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is now developing an innovative mechanism to boost its data privacy policies. Facebook has announced that it has formed a task force to look into the applications of blockchain.
Facebook head of messaging app Messenger, David Marcus, made the announcement noting the social media giant is looking into how best it can leverage the new technology across the platform.
Marcus, who is also a board member of Coinbase will head the group. He joined the cryptocurrency exchange in 2017. Facebook is yet to give details on what exactly it will be applying blockchain on.
The move is part of the wider executive shake-up
Since the advent of the data leak saga, Facebook has been running a raft of measure in a bid to stay on top of the situation. The company has so far implemented what is seemingly the biggest executive shape up in 15 years. Facebook is also implementing several changes in its product team. The company has divided itself into a number of divisions: “central product services,” “family of apps” group and “new platforma and infra.”
Earlier on in January, Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook CEO indicated that he was exploring the potential of digital currency and blockchain in general in empowering people. He said that decentralized systems have a lot of power and potential to help in empowering people.
Blockchain technology creates a secure and permanent transaction record between two people or parties. This helps to get rid of third parties and intermediaries like banks. The very first application of blockchain technology is bitcoin.
Initial ban on crypto ads
At the start of this year, Facebook announced a ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrencies. The ban came as a shock surprise many people because Mark Zuckerberg had initially expressed a lot of interest in digital currencies.
As a technology and communiocation company Facebook is working to bring on board new innovations as it seeks solutions to sustain its growth and it is hoping that blockchain technology will help achieve that.
