Facebook on privacy. And Google.
p2pnet news | Advertising:- “At Facebook, we always look out for the privacy of our users. That’s a key reason users feel safe sharing their information on our site.”
That’s Facebook guy Charlie Cheever.
Does anyone remember Beacon?
Blockbuster does.
Cathryn Elaine Harris sued the company for allegedly violating the federal Videotape Privacy Protection Act by sharing information about her movie rentals and sales with Facebook without first getting her written permission.
Facebook’s Beacon ad system tracked the activities of all users of its third-party partner sites, including people who’d never signed up with Facebook or who’d deactivated their accounts, said CA (Computer Associates), according to the IDG News Service.
Intense external and internal pressure ultimately forced Facebook to re-jig Beacon and these days, “Privacy and openness go hand-in-hand,” says Cheevers earnestly, going on, “as we open up, we have to make sure that users always have control of their information, and understand how and where it’s being used.
“We’ve maintained that trusted environment while opening up Facebook Platform and the social graph to external developers by requiring third-party application developers to treat user information with the same respect we do. All Facebook Platform developers agree to the Developer Terms of Service, which strictly limit the collection, use, and redistribution of user information. We have technology and a team to ensure applications abide by those policies.”
Redistribution of user information is the key phrase. It’s what it’s all about as Facebook, et al, come up with one scheme after another to enable them to manipulate user data to the absolute max to the sole benefit of advertisers, without once again seriously pissing off site ‘members’.
Now, “Facebook isn’t feeling very social toward Google,” says InformationWeek. In fact, it’s broken up with with Google Friend Connect, says the story.
Why’s that?
Because, “We’ve found that it redistributes user information from Facebook to other developers without users’ knowledge, which doesn’t respect the privacy standards our users have come to expect and is a violation of our Terms of Service,” blogs Cheevers, admitting, “Just as we’ve been forced to do for other applications that redistribute data in a way users might not expect or understand, we’ve had to suspend Friend Connect’s access to Facebook user information until it comes into compliance.”
But all is not lost.
“We’ve reached out to Google several times about this issue, and hope to work with them to enable users to share their data exactly when and where they choose,” he says, adding:
“We think MySpace’s Data Availability, Google Friend Connect, and Facebook Connect can be part of a great movement in the industry to give users a better and safer experience online, while respecting user privacy. We look forward to working with our developer community and everyone else in the industry to help all of our users take their information, and their privacy, with them wherever they go.”
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.Stumble It!
Beacon – Coca-Cola says NO! to Facebook Beacon, December 4, 2007
Blockbuster – Blockbuster sued over Facebook Beacon, April 17, 2008
IDG News Service – Facebook Beacon also tracks non-users, December 5, 2007
InformationWeek – Facebook Disconnects Google Friend Connect, May 16, 2008
Friend Connect – Google hooks up Friend Connect, May 13, 2008
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