A few years ago, Facebook was forced to retreat from a new service called Beacon. It tracked what the social network"s users were doing elsewhere on the web—which caused a huge 1 because of the loss of personal privacy. 2 , Facebook promised to make 3 efforts to better protect people"s information.But 4 the firm has not been trying very hard. On November 29th America"s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) 5 the results of an investigation it had conducted of Facebook. They showed that the world"s biggest social network, which now 6 more than 800m users, has been making information public that it had 7 to keep private.The FTC"s findings come at a(n) 8 time for Facebook, which is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) that is almost 9 to take place next year. Some recent reports have 10 that the firm may seek a listing as early as next spring, and that it will try to 11 a whopping $10 billion in an IPO that would 12 it at $100 billion. To 13 the way for an offering, Facebook 14 needs to resolve some of the regulatory tussles over privacy that it has become embroiled in. 15 the FTC"s announcement, which came as part of a settlement struck between the commission and Facebook. The FTC"s investigation 16 a litany of instances in which the social network had 17 its users. In what is perhaps the most damning of the findings, the agency documents that Facebook has been 18 people"s personal information with advertisers—a practice its senior executives have 19 sworn it does not indulge in. The FTC also says that the firm failed to make photos and videos on deactivated and deleted user accounts 20 after promising to do so.

A. sharing
B. inflaming
C. furnishing
D. purchasing