Facebook IPO pits privacy vs. profits

If Facebook wants to make its IPO a success, it’s going to have to find new ways to make money by using the personal information posted by its 900 million users. And the biggest threat to that business model is Washington.

The Facebook IPO is expected to generate as much as $16 billion when the company starts trading on the NASDAQ exchange Friday. Investors are betting the social network can tap its treasure trove of user data — their personal information, photos and postings — to become the next big Internet moneymaker. This is hardly the first time Facebook has faced accusations by critics that it’s invading the privacy of its users. But after Friday, that's no longer simply a philosophical question. In truth, pressing against the boundaries of confidentiality, in the eyes of many analysts, is the only way the most lavish expectations of Facebook's value have any economic logic. But the harder Facebook pushes the boundaries of personal privacy to maximize its warehouse of user data, the more it tempts members of Congress, federal agencies and consumer advocates to try to thwart the practice.