Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg defended the company's privacy practices and expressed regret for some of his behavior during the company's early history, speaking at the Wall Street Journal's All Things D conference Wednesday.

In an on-stage interview, Mr. Zuckerberg continued his recent campaign to address criticism that the social network doesn't give customers proper controls over their data--criticism it moved to address by offering some simplified controls last week. Mr. Zuckerberg said a team of engineers worked non-stop for two weeks to develop the controls. He added the company is doing a 'reasonable job' of giving customers control over their privacy on the social network.

The 26-year-old chief executive also addressed the personal scrutiny he has faced, including embarrassing instant-messaging conversations from the time he was starting the company in his Harvard dorm room. 'When I was 18 or 19 years old I did some things that were pretty stupid,' he said.

Mr. Zuckerberg began to sweat under the glare of spotlights during the wide-ranging conversation, leading him to doff his signature hoodie, revealing a company logo emblazoned on the inside.

His appearance came as news articles and books about Facebook have publicized details about the company's early history, including stories about Mr. Zuckerberg facing disciplinary action for hacking into college computers. He did not indicate which stories were true, but said he regrets some episodes.

A film about the company's founding is expected out this year. Mr. Zuckerberg said he would prefer no film be made about his life during his lifetime.

Facebook is approaching 500 million users, he said, growth that has fueled investorspeculation about the possibility the company will go public. Asked if he would remain CEO after the company goes public, Mr. Zuckerberg said yes, but added that he didn't know when that might be.

Mr. Zuckerberg reiterated his excitement about several new products Facebook has announced, including a controversial service that allows third-party websites to show users information about their Facebook friends. While the service, called 'instant personalization,' is in a very limited test, it has drawn criticism from privacy advocates who argue that it operates behind users' backs.

He said that he thinks eventually all websites will offer similar personalization. 'A few years from now we'll look back and wonder why there was this time when all these websites weren't personalized,' he said. 'The world is moving in this direction where everything is designed around people.'

He also said that he sees lots of potential for the company to innovate around search, stating that the social network fields search queries on a similar scale as industry giant Google Inc.

Jessica E. Vascellaro / Scott Morrison

• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• conference [´kɔnfərəns] n.讨论(会)；会谈 (初中英语单词)
• interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)
• criticism [´kritisizəm] n.批评；评论(文) (初中英语单词)
• possibility [,pɔsə´biliti] n.可能(性)；希望；前途 (初中英语单词)
• excitement [ik´saitmənt] n.兴奋；骚动；煽动 (初中英语单词)
• behavior [bi´heiviə] n.举止，行为 (高中英语单词)
• campaign [kæm´pein] n.战役；行动 vi.从军 (高中英语单词)
• offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)
• harvard [´hɑ:vəd] n.哈佛大学 (高中英语单词)
• signature [´signətʃə] n.签名；盖章 (高中英语单词)
• speculation [,spekju´leiʃən] n.思索，推测；投机 (高中英语单词)
• limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)
• potential [pə´tenʃəl] n.&a.潜在的；可能的 (高中英语单词)
• privacy [´praivəsi, -pri] n.隐退；独处；秘密 (英语四级单词)
• network [´netwə:k] n.网状物 vt.联播 (英语四级单词)
• eventually [i´ventʃuəli] ad.最后，终于 (英语四级单词)
• speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
• investor [in´vestə] n.投资者 (英语六级单词)