Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg claims people want to be tracked for ads and that it needs data to make people feel secure

CEO denies showing people harmful and divisive content to keep them engaged

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Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg says it collects data on its users to make sure they are secure – but that people like when it is used to show them ads.

The claims come in an article written by the CEO that attempts to justify Facebook's business practises and argues that critics have misunderstood the company. Opponents of the company's widely-criticised data collection practises may be distrustful because it involves "systems we don't understand", he writes in an article for the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Zuckerberg attempts to correct a number of falsehoods about the company, including suggestions that it sells people's data. He notes that Facebook instead sells access to that data, and that if it gave the information it holds over to people then it would hurt its own businesses.

He also argues that Facebook would not try and falsely increase engagement because it would harm it in the longterm. "Clickbait and other junk" might make people interested in the short term, but it would be "foolish to show this intentionally, because it's not what people want", he writes.

And he denies that the company would show divisive or harmful content because it is particualrly good for engagement. Once again he says that would upset both users and advertisers, and says that any failure to take down such content is simply the result of bad systems for removing it.

Perhaps the most controversial claim is that Facebook does not collect more information than it needs to, and that most of the data it collects is used for privacy and security purposes. Any information collected is "generally important for security and operating our services as well", he claims.

Mr Zuckerberg points to the example of widely-used technology that allows companies to see when someone puts something in their basket, so they can follow them around the internet and advertise the same or similar products. But that information would be just as useful because it helps people detect fraud, he claims.

The Facebook boss also claims that people want such personalised ads, and that they prefer that the company collects data to ensure that the posts that show are "relevant".

The article's claims come amid intense and increasing criticism of Facebook over the kinds and amount of data it collects. The site is known to track its users around the web, using some of people's most personal information to sell advertising space and encourage them to engage with it.