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Facebook Sued Over Data Access
Late last year, a web service called Power.com launched with the aim of allowing users to unify their use of multiple social networks. Facebook quickly filed a lawsuit, objecting to the (user-authorized) gathering of their data. Reader sufijazz writes with news that Power.com has now countersued Facebook, saying, "Facebook improperly restricts its users' access to their private information," and that Facebook's own data scraping makes their lawsuit an attempt to stifle competition. According to TechCrunch,
"Facebook can point to its efforts with Facebook Connect, which lets you log in with your Facebook username at third party sites and import some select data from your profile, as evidence of its openness. But this isn't true data portability, it's just a new walled garden — third parties are generally only allowed to cache your data, which means that you're still tethered to Facebook."
I think this has more to do with you wanting to move your data, not them just handing it out. There is a huge difference.
This example is more related to you going to a hospital and requesting your health records be transferred to another hospital and they say no. Don't get it confused with privacy/security.
Just because you type some stuff into some website, doesn't mean the web site has to give you a nice easy automated way of getting all that data back out again. Take a look at slashdot Just from browsing my profile, I can only see my comments until some time back in November 2008. Yet I've been posting for years. If you want a copy of any information that you post on facebook, keep a copy on your own computer. Facebook provides a free service, and if they don't think there's any value in you being able to take that data out, then that's their perogative. All social networking sites thrive on the same concept. Create non-standard restrictive technologies for connection groups of people, so that the people can't just leave, lest they be disconnected from their social group. Personally, I liked it better when it was all just email and geocities pages. At least when you didn't like Geocities anymore, you could take your html and post it on tripod. Social networking was a page of links to all your friends sites. Sure we had to do a little more work ourselves, but we were a lot more in control of our own data.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Haven't we learned anything in life about the average-idiot though? Its not about whether or not we can protect ourselves we need to baby everyone around. That's why there's labels on electronics that tell you not to operate it near water. Warnings about why one shouldn't be using depressants around moving vehicles etc. Time and time again people have not proven to be responsible with their own decisions and need to be protected.
Yeah, technically they're withholding your data from a third party even after your authorization. But if you consider the vast majority of Facebook users, don't you think most of them need this kind of hand-holding? These are people who would authorize a complete disclosure of most of their personal information on Facebook to take a "Which Twilight Character Are You?" quiz. If anything, I think Facebook should be even more stingy, even if you choose to authorize disclosure. If you really really really really really wanted to give a third party your personal information, then you can usually do so yourself, without the third party acquiring that information through Facebook.
Now, I don't know how power.com works, nor did I RTFA, but I assume it requires certain information from Facebook that is not really yours. Information such as links to your profile, your friends' profiles, pictures, groups, what-have-you. Such information is probably strictly Facebook's property. Without such information, power.com would be useless anyway.
At any rate, as I said, if you really wanted to give your personal information to a third party, you can do so without the help of Facebook. Facebook's stinginess at releasing personal information is a good thing, and I think they should go even further in their stinginess. Personal information sometimes isn't removed from third party apps even after removal of the app, and I think Facebook should start using the ban hammer on apps and developers who keep personal information even after deauthorization. I think such stinginess can only be a good thing, until they start withholding your personal information from you directly.
"Facebook improperly restricts its users' access to their private information,"
Huh, what? You entered the data in your profile. Naturally, you have the data, at least, if you chose to keep a copy of it.
Facebook.com's terms of service don't contain any clause or term of use where they guarantee they will provide you any data you have entered for free access by any third party application or service.
This is as if you published a book on an online website, and a third-party decides to sue the website, because you signed up with a third-party, giving the third-party permission to reprint, but your book-publishing website chooses not to cooperate.
Just because the information is yours, doesn't mean you have a right to authorize someone to scrape it from an online service you have posted it to. That online service has an interest and a right to control the terms and conditions under which their servers may be accessed.
You have to admit there is a need for this kind of product though.
If youre a person who networks through these sites, or say you have a band or whatever, it could be a full-time job to deal with keeping your various profiles current, etc.
There are some attempts to integrate parts of things, like ping.fm for example... but if you could have ONE online presence that you were able to take wherever you wanted to, be it facebook, myspace, twitter, or whatever next week's flavor is - it would be a huge service to people. It would also allow easier migration... if Facebook is starting to look old compared to ThisWeeksThing.com, then that new upstart would have an easier time getting going. Good for the evolution of the web, in a sense.
Which of course is why the established players will never allow it.
This space available.
You have full rights to your data, of course they are under no obligation to provide you a copy of all your data. Unless you live in a jurisdiction that has privacy laws that require they provide all personally identifiable information for your inspection and correction.
You can login to facebook, using your username and password, and see all your data, however. I would say that they give you ample access to it.
What they don't let you do is utilize their service to export all your data directly to other services. You would have to copy and paste or type/write your data down by hand manually for import into other services.
Or you could just keep the authoritative copy of your data in notepad, periodically update, and paste your updated data into all the social networking websites you want to post it on.
They're well within their rights to stop automated attempts to scrape content and pursue actions against people who partake in tortious interference. Where a third-party site specifically encourages Facebook users to violate the ToS agreement by providing username and password credentials users are forbidden from disclosing.
Matters would be very different if it was just users scraping their own profile page for their persoanl use, in a non-disruptive and undetectable manner.
Or if the third party just developed a small tool you could download and use to scrape your profile info from FB (without violating the ToS and sending usernames+passwords to them).
However, a third party connecting directly to FB and performing mass scraping activities is eminently detectable, disruptive, a ToS violation, and basically steals services (users of the scraping service do not see FB advertising, for instance).
I'm glad you weren't around when I wanted to take my phone number to a different service. There was a time when you couldn't do it.
Do I have the right to access the data of my friends? That is the heart of the matter. I don't care about my data, I already have it.
Disclaimer: I do not have a Facebook account.
Please cite for me an actual benefit of having a Facebook account?
Otherwise - GET OFF MY LAWN!
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
You have a right to access data of your friends that they allow you to access and that Facebook allows you to access, in the manner that they choose to permit that access.
Much like you have a right to see this comment response on slashdot in response to yours.
If slashdot so chose, they could decline to accept it, and decline to grant you the right to see it.
Just like FB could decline you the right to see a copy of a friend's profile page.
But FB doesn't, they give you the ability to view your friend's pages.
They just don't give you the right to make a web site that connects to the FB servers and spider's a user's friends pages.
FB has a right to dictate the manner in which you may access their servers. They can mandate that you use IE 6 if they so desire, it's their playground.
There are other ways you can get your friends' info that don't have the encumberance of any restrictions FB might impose, for example, you can ask your friends for the info.
Whoosh. GPs point is that data SHOULD be moveable, same as yours.