Facebook founder meets PM and Culture Secretary

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The chief executive of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has visited Prime Minister David Cameron and Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt during a visit to London.

Zuckerberg, in town to speak at the Facebook Developer Garage event, popped in at Downing Street yesterday for a chat that was described by the Number 10 press office as private and routine.

Hunt himself was a little more forthcoming, using his Twitter account to reveal: “Just met Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. Really smart guy with some good ideas on improvement digital engagement in policy making.”

Exactly what was discussed – and whether the meeting with the 26-year-old Zuckerberg was indeed informal – is not clear, with both sides doing little more than confirming the meeting took place. Hunt's press office added that the get-together had been set up by the Prime Minister's office, not his own.

Even if there was no official agenda on the table, it is likely that the conversation centred around Facebook's ongoing struggle with privacy groups concerned over its handling of members' personal details.

Last week a coalition of privacy advocates published an open letter calling for wide-reaching changes to Facebook's approach to privacy. These included stricter controls on third parties using members' data and letting users move all their data away should they wish to leave the social network.

In response, Facebook largely dismissed the concerns in a letter of its own, claiming the measures it already has are sufficient.

At the Facebook developer day, Zuckerberg said the company is about to incorporate location-based services into the social network, that will make it able to integrate data from services such as Foursquare and Gowalla.

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