YOU may have heard of RoboCop and Future Cop, but did you know we may soon have our very own Facebook Cop?

The Australian Federal Police is reportedly pushing for the social networking site Facebook to employ a law enforcement expert in Australia, The ABC reports.

AFP assistant commissioner Neil Gaughan is joining six senior law enforcement officials from around the world in Washington later today for a US Department of Justice meeting about the social networking site, the ABC said.

The ABC reports the AFP wants Facebook to appoint a dedicated officer in Australia to match individual user accounts to internet addresses if they believed they were involved in criminal activity.

Currently, if the AFP wishes to identify a Facebook user, they are required to submit a request via the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act of 1987 which can take up to 18 months to process.

It said the AFP would also push for Facebook's law enforcement guidelines to match Australian law as well as discuss the possibility of banning anyone under the age of 13 from joining the social network.

The moves would perhaps help stave off crimes such as the death of Sydney teenager Nona Belomesoff, who met her alleged killer via Facebook.

Meanwhile, Facebook has called for a press conference later today (AEST) to discuss "enhanced, simpler" privacy controls designed to appease concerns about safeguarding information at the social-networking service.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and other senior executives are slated to take part in the briefing, which will be at the firm's headquarters in the city of Palo Alto, California.

Mr Zuckerberg said yesterday the social network "missed the mark" with its privacy controls and changes were imminent.

"Sometimes we move too fast - and after listening to recent concerns, we're responding," he wrote in a column published on the op-ed page of The Washington Post.

Facebook last month sparked criticism from US privacy and consumer groups, US lawmakers and the European Union by adding the ability for partner websites to incorporate data regarding members of the social-networking service.

"The biggest message we have heard recently is that people want easier control over their information," Mr Zuckerberg said. "Simply put, many of you thought our controls were too complex.

"Our intention was to give you lots of granular controls; but that may not have been what many of you wanted," the 26-year-old Facebook chief executive said. "We just missed the mark."

He stressed that Facebook does "not share your personal information with people or services you don't want" and does "not give advertisers access to your personal information."

"We do not and never will sell any of your information to anyone," Mr Zuckerberg said, adding that Facebook will always remain a free service.

- with Agence-France Presse