Facebook is facing another round of backlash about its privacy policies.
A vocal slice of Facebook's 400 million members are grousing about a new feature from the social-networking giant that lets non-Facebook websites post the personal views of Facebook users without their consent.
Facebook called an internal meeting among employees Thursday to discuss the issue.
"We have an open culture, and it should come as no surprise that we're providing a forum for employees to ask questions on a topic that has received a lot of outside interest," said Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt.
If successful, new Facebook functions could help it gain insights about millions of consumers and help it sell more advertising in its escalating rivalry with online ad leader Google.
While the move could change the way people experience the online world, and appeal to marketers, it has sparked privacy concerns.
So far, it's prompted a group of four US senators to ask Facebook to alter its policy so the information remains private and can only be shared if the user explicitly chooses; four New York University students have raised more than $100,000 to build a Facebook alternative; and a new-media marketing expert is organizing an online protest, set for June 6. (It had 632 followers as of Thursday afternoon.)
"We're sensitive to it and take it seriously," said Bret Taylor, director of Facebook Platform.
He said as Facebook adds more features and privacy settings, it can be complex for users. But, he added, the company extensively tests new features with members and polls them for feedback.
Facebook says the criticisms don't appear to resonate with its broad user base as previous protests have. When Facebook made a simple layout change, 2 million people joined a group to protest.
Previously, political action group MoveOn got millions to join its protest group about Beacon, an ill-fated advertisement system that sent data from external websites to Facebook.
Since Facebook's newest feature was added in late April, it has added 10 million members.
Still, a vocal minority of Facebook users feel betrayed, according to Linda Criddle, president of the Safe Internet Alliance, a non-profit consortium.
"They object that a company establish itself as one thing with customers, then undercut it with changes in policy," Criddle says. She suggests easy-to-understand instructions for privacy settings when users register on Facebook.
Also Thursday, Facebook announced security features to battle spam and other malicious attacks. One lets you approve devices that you most frequently use to log in and be notified if your account is accessed from a device you haven't approved.
