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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."
This is an interesting change. I'd rather Facebook be too stingy with my information, as compared to the usual loose attitude towards user's data and data security that most companies seem to have. Better safe than sorry.
I sometimes wonder about the state of society that lawsuits like these should even come about in the first place. If people are dumb enough to give away their login credentials to some random website, what business is it of Facebook's? And if Facebook wants to shut the door on third parties, surely it's their service to do with as they wish?
Santa's suicide mission go!
If it's "Their" private data then how hard will it be for "Them" to add it to Power.com? It looks like Power.com is trying to import and sync all the different social networks and facebook is saying No.
On one hand, if I hand all of my info to site X, why can't I give site X permission to give it to site Y.
On the other, If I give all my information to site X. Who am I to tell them what they can and can't do with it. It's like trusting the guy on the street corner and the cardboard box to be your banker. Sure if I ask for some of my money to do something with I'd like it back, but I don't expect him to give me any.
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.
Maybe social networks need to become "friends" first to allow mutual aggregation of customers ...
"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 can keep track of long lost friends.
In my case, I changed city about 6 times, and changed school about 5 times. (no, I wasn't raised in a circus) So there is a lot of people that I knew but lost track of.
I joined Facebook some weeks ago and now I have about 50 "recovered friends", that is, people that used to be my friends but then I lost touch. I chatted with some, said happy birthday to others, etc.
It would have been more difficult finding them without facebook, since finding each friend manually would be a PITA, and also very non-casual. I mean, how do you get in touch with a kindergarden friend? You don't just call him and tell him "hey, I noticed your name was on the phone book and so I called to say hi". Instead, requesting to "become friend" over facebook is something casual.
Once you get in touch you can just write silly things like "I hate this TV host" or "Today I feel sad". Or you can post old photos or whatever. That gives your friends a chance to see what you are up to and maybe start an actual conversation or schedule a real life encounter (want to come to my birthday this saturday?) And since you are broadcasting to everybody you don't put anyone in particular in the position of having to answer.
It is similar to an msn account, only that you can just broadcast whatever you want and wait to see if somebody answers. Just like bloging, but directed to people you kind-of-know.
I think having an open standard to such service would be great, just as it would be great to have an open standard to IM, and just as it is great to have an open standard to email. Maybe Wave will change this in the near future. I think of this as a way of taking my friends with me wherever I go.
The advantage of facebook is that they have a huge database of "name"->"email" entries, so once you sign up you find out hundreds of people you know. In part, their success is due to spamish practices like sending invitations to all your IM or email contacts (at your request).
There are probably other uses, but this is one I can think of.