Facebook and China: How far will Mark Zuckerberg go?

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Lu also stated in his speech that 'good order depends on rules. The Internet is a free and open platform. Everyone has the right to speak. However, compliance with the law is the bottom line that no one should violate.'

It was not clear if he meant only inside China.

My concern is that Facebook, already guilty of regularly altering its policies regarding user privacy, may further compromise how our data is shared and stored, and what services are made available - or not - as a concession to operate inside China, where Facebook has been blocked by the Great Firewall since 2009.

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Zuckerberg clearly wants to make a good impression on China. It's certainly hard to blame him for trying. As CEO of the publicly-traded Facebook, there may be no bigger growth opportunity. Moreover, connecting China's 600 million Internet users via Facebook with America and much of the rest of the world - and with one another - could legitimately improve nation-to-nation and person-to-person relations around the globe.

But will our data be made a bargaining chip in return for access to the China market? What levels of oversight and surveillance will China require - of its own citizens or possibly all Facebook users - before letting Facebook legally operate throughout the country?

Are my fears overstated? Perhaps. But would you feel more at ease or less if this week's in-office meeting between Zuckerberg and China's cyberspace minister was instead with the head of America's NSA?

I do not doubt the positive scope of Mr. Zuckerberg's grand ambitions. More than once he has stated his vision to connect the world. He has even hinted that he is prepared to spend in the 'low tens of billions' to turn this dream into reality. But I remain concerned the laudable goal to bring Facebook and the Internet to all the world may have the deleterious effect of limiting the privacies and freedoms Facebook's current users have long since come to expect on the world wide web.

Access to new markets is critical for Facebook's future. There are concerns the social media giant is not growing fast enough - and there is no bigger market for Facebook than China. I just hope that when Facebook breaks out the cost per acquisition for all this user growth, they include the costs of our personal sovereignty. For everyone's, in fact.

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Commentary by Brian S. Hall, a writer covering mobile technology and social media. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Macworld, CIO, LinkedIn, Business Insider and several other sites. Follow him on Twitter @brianshall.

Disclosure: Hall does not own shares in Facebook.