A top Facebook official said Wednesday the company believes it can protect user data even while leveraging such information to sell lucrative ads that help businesses target narrowly defined markets.

“We use information that people share with us or share with third-party sites to make those ads relevant to them,” Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told the Senate Intelligence Committee. “When people share information with us, we do not give it to advertisers without their permission, we never sell data, and they have control over the information they use.”