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Google Asks Users To Complain Against Facebook
dkd903 writes "A kind of war has been going on recently between Facebook and Google over a contact export issue. First, Google blocked Facebook access to the Gmail contacts API. To this, Facebook responded back with a new method to get Gmail contacts of a user (the download contacts option). And now Google has slapped back again at Facebook and asks users indirectly to file a data protectionism complaint against Facebook. When a Facebook user clicks on the Download Your Contacts button on the 'Facebook import contact via Gmail' page, the user is then redirected to a new page on Google's server, which looks something like this..." Can I just say that watching this is absolutely hysterical?
Just registered a complaint. This is the right thing to do. People and corporations must be made aware that they have no right to hang on to user's personal data without giving them the choice to export it in an easy and convenient way.
The question is, what did registering a complaint do? Your name and email are not attached, so what good, exactly, is that complaint supposed to do except allow google to say "X number of users complained about your unfair practices, so there!" Oh, wait - it goes to Facebook. Who has already demonstrated that it doesn't really care about this issue... and successfully so, since most people are happily continuing to use Facebook in spite of it .
Basically it comes down to whether Zuckerberg decides if he cares about the bad PR. If he doesn't, too bad -- unless you and a couple hundred million others are going to stop using Facebook in protest.
Yeah. By the way, it's incredible how much you can speed the average page by adblocking facebook.com and fbcdn.net -- at least on a decent browser (Firefox, sadly not Chrome (yet?)). It's scary how big a percentage of pages bear Facebook and Twatter widgets. Heck, even Slashdot has several icons next to every single damn comment -- everyone I know, even including people who use Facebook, adblock these too which shows how annoying they are.
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
I can certainly appreciate Google's stance on the subject. I've been saying for years its reprehensible how Facebook acts as a one way silo for personal information. They've gotten a bit better about it but only after getting raked over the preverbal coals for months and months. Frankly I don't trust Facebook as far as I can throw them which at their current size is close to nothing. Facebook has demonstrated time and time again that their focus is not on protecting users and providing value to the web. In fact quite the opposite, to move towards a AOLy version of the web where Facebook is the web. They're only as "open" as much as it benefits them, ie reduced PR exposure or added page views or users. However, this comparison is not an apples to apples. It is my understanding (and I could be wrong or things could have changed as they do on almost a daily basis at Facebook) that when you "import" friends from Google (or any other service) that Facebook is simply providing a matching service and only adding friends if they exist on Facebook. They are not acting as a contact list provider in the sense that I can not import my dogs website nor change my friends phone number if I like to use his home number instead of his cell number for his main number etc. Although it could be agreed that with all your friends on Facebook they are by default playing the roll of contact list and are not being fairly bi-directional. Facebook wants you messaging your friends within the confines of the system (more page views, more lock in, more details they can scrape about you) and is the main reason why they don't want you exporting your contacts.
Really? It does me good.
I'm sick of getting facebook invites because some fool with my address in his address book decided to upload the entire list to facebook, without so much as a "by your leave".
My address(s) live quietly in lots of people's google contacts and I get no spam at all from that. Yet ONE person uploads that to facebook and facebook themselves start spamming me, followed in rapid succession by pill pushers and foreign diplomats, dethroned princes, and ousted former heads of state, all with lots of money they want to share with me.
I fail to see the greed tie in here.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
If google gets, say, a million complaints sent through, and facebook does nothing, then the Google can make public "We forwarded a million complaints, and facebook did nothing", which, if timed correctly, probably as facebook makes some "we listen to our users, if 100,000 people ask for something, then we do it" type publicity, google can trot this out... Not saying they would, or should need to, but it's hanging over facebook's head unless they deal with it. Google is just being the 'big backer' for our complaints, thus giving them credibility.
Sure, perhaps there are better things that could be done, but this is surely better than Google doing nothing?
"lt;dr" is the correct response to most of my posts.
It's not doing any harm, either, since facebook is useless. So don't be mean and let the children play...
Thanks for taking care of the obligatory "popular things suck" stance, very insightful as usual. /golfclap
do you even know what you're talking about?
google wants data to be bidirectional - you can take your information out of facebook, you can take your information into facebook.
It's google trying to get facebook to acknowledge better privacy standards.
Since I'm not particularly invested in either side of this, I have to agree with the poster: watching all this chest-thumping is pretty amusing.
Actually facebook keeps the data and sells it to their 'partners'. Who in turn sell that info to their partners. And so on.
I found this out when I was getting my info removed for a people info database. They got the info about me from facebook. I do not now or have ever had a facebook account. My sister does have a facebook account. All of her contacts were in that people data website. It took a few phone calls, emails, and threats to contact the state attorney general office to get it removed.
No worse than trying to watch TV with huge scrolling banners over it whining about how this station won't renew their contract, superimposed by the cable company over the station's huge scrolling banner whining about how the cable company is screwing them.
Is someone doing this?