SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook, responding to a European regulator's request, proposed privacy-policy changes that would disclose more information on how it handles user data. 

Under a proposal, Facebook would publish more detail on how long data can be held, what happens when accounts are deactivated and what kinds of ads could be shown to users even when they're not on Facebook's pages, theMenlo Park, California-based company said today on its site. 

Ireland's data-protection agency, which regulates Facebook's Irish affiliate, had encouraged the social-networking service to enhance guidelines. Facebook, which plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion in an initial public offering as soon as next week, is stepping up efforts to safeguard user data and inform people how their information is handled. 

"We're adding more examples and detailed explanations to help you understand our policies," Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer for policy, said in a blog posting on the site. 

Facebook has come under scrutiny from regulators in the US as well, and last year agreed to settle complaints by the US Federal Trade Commission that it failed to protect users' privacy or disclose how their data could be used.