Facebook launches Web page devoted to online safety

Facebook on Monday launched a Web page devoted to staying safe on the Internet.

The "Safety Page" will highlight news and initiatives focused on ways people can keep data secure at the world's leading online social-networking community, Joe Sullivan of Facebook said in a blog post.

The new page was intended to augment a virtual Safety Center that Facebook introduced in April and was based on a "security page" that boasted more than 2.2 million "fans" as of Monday.

"Online safety is a shared responsibility," Sullivan said. "We'll continue to think of innovative ways to promote safety on our service and elsewhere on the Web."

The number of people using Facebook topped the 500 million mark last week, meaning one in every 14 people on the planet has now signed up to the social netowork.

The launch of the Safety Page came in the wake of demands by privacy activists that Facebook give users of the booming social network more control over the use of their personal data.

A coalition of privacy groups, in an open letter to Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg last month, welcomed the social network's recent overhaul of its privacy controls but said additional steps were needed.