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Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

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Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#61

Post by mikebo »

kmavm wrote: post #59

Some points that are getting lost in the discussion below. I work at Facebook. 1. Facebook lets you export your data. It has been possible to do so ever since the graph API debuted in April '10. Since the market wasn't filling the gap, we even built a "download your information" product ( https://register.facebook.com/editaccount.php -> Download Your Information). It gives you a zip file with all your contact info, p…

If you agree it's wrong to allow a friend to export my e-mail address, why should Google allow it either? It seems like Facebook wants to have its cake and eat it too.

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#62

Post by moxiemk1 »

kmavm wrote: post #59

Some points that are getting lost in the discussion below. I work at Facebook. 1. Facebook lets you export your data. It has been possible to do so ever since the graph API debuted in April '10. Since the market wasn't filling the gap, we even built a "download your information" product ( https://register.facebook.com/editaccount.php -> Download Your Information). It gives you a zip file with all your contact info, p…

A quibble about the "download your information" feature:

This is not data export. It's a nice offline look at some of the data I have on facebook, but not all the dt I've added, nor complete data of what it claims to have.

The archive of messages does not contain all the messages that are in my inbox, let alone the deleted ones that should be produced. Not enough information about profile changes, picture changes, etc. is included.

An export of data from facebook should include information on all interactions interact with anyone on facebook. That's the information I put in, that's what I expect out.

What you do have is a token effort to appease the people who don't really care, but are scared into demanding it by their friends who do care. It doesn't solve our problem, only yours.

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#63

Post by arron61 »

kmavm wrote: post #59

Some points that are getting lost in the discussion below. I work at Facebook. 1. Facebook lets you export your data. It has been possible to do so ever since the graph API debuted in April '10. Since the market wasn't filling the gap, we even built a "download your information" product ( https://register.facebook.com/editaccount.php -> Download Your Information). It gives you a zip file with all your contact info, p…

1) FB only recently added this export data ability - before then, all they did was consume and never gave back. They are lucky no one called them out before.

2) You do want to export friends' emails because they are my friends and I should be able to maintain their emails regardless. I want to leave facebook, export the data, and import it elsewhere. It's fine that they are refusing to give an API for it (although they can make the application request for permission for it first) but if I am exporting all my data into a zip file, I expect that information to be there. I am sure Google wouldn't be complaining if FB did just this. If a user is stupid enough to import all their contact info back into a random FB application manually and gets spammed, then let them be.

3) Stop spinning this like Google is making their users' lives worse. Google allows this and FB doesn't because FB wants to trap all their information inside of their ecosystem. They are not right. They are one of the worse companies that try to spin automatic opt-in (confuse users and hope they never opt-out) to make them release more information.

4) Explain to me why FB blocking Twitter, blocking iTunes, blocking Google is GOOD for any of their users.

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#64

Post by ck2 »

henrikschroder wrote: post #40
ck2 wrote: post #27

What really upsets me about Facebook is I refuse to start an account there but they already know everything about me because they tricked all my AOL/gmail-using friends into giving them full access to their contact lists. So I constantly get spam from Facebook personalized with my name, location and list of friends, based on all the stupid data they have sucked up. It's borderline stalking.

Joining and locking down the account by disabling all the notifications would make them stop spamming you. Dunno what's more important to you, getting rid of the spam, or the principle of not having an account there?

Wait, cave-in to their bullying that I join their nonsense is a solution? Was that a joke?

How about a class action lawsuit for unsolicited spam and data scrapping?

Much longer to wait for results but much more satisfying.

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#65

Post by hamedh »

wh-uws wrote: post #7
dododo wrote: post #3

or "facebook won't let you liberate your facebook data to alternate providers". i don't understand why people tolerate facebook. they don't seem deserving of the trust people give them. first opt-in/opt-out privacy issues, now this... plus it doesn't seem like they're really trying to make money yet. i suppose this is what the initial "exclusivity" of the facebook brand got them: loyalty without needing trust.

Most non-technical average users (read: the majority of their users ) just don't really understand / care about the privacy issues. They just love the experience they can find at and pretty much only at the facebook site. The tech press and media make an initial fuss about all of it but by the time they figure out a way to bring it down to a level the masses can understand facebook has put a notification on the top o…

I've found the complete opposite. that most of my non-technical friends care about facebook privacy a lot, many of them delete their accounts as soon as they feel like people are knowing too much about them. As a technical-user, I don't care much about the privacy issues, mostly because I just gave up and realize that privacy really doesn't exist on Facebook.

But I really do think Facebook users care.

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#66

Post by finiteloop »

mikebo wrote: post #61
kmavm wrote: post #59

Some points that are getting lost in the discussion below. I work at Facebook. 1. Facebook lets you export your data. It has been possible to do so ever since the graph API debuted in April '10. Since the market wasn't filling the gap, we even built a "download your information" product ( https://register.facebook.com/editaccount.php -> Download Your Information). It gives you a zip file with all your contact info, p…

If you agree it's wrong to allow a friend to export my e-mail address, why should Google allow it either? It seems like Facebook wants to have its cake and eat it too.

You added your friends email addresses in your Gmail address book. On Facebook, your friends put in their own email addresses into their profile and set the privacy settings around it. It is a subtle but important difference.

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#67

Post by kmavm »

mikebo wrote: post #61
kmavm wrote: post #59

Some points that are getting lost in the discussion below. I work at Facebook. 1. Facebook lets you export your data. It has been possible to do so ever since the graph API debuted in April '10. Since the market wasn't filling the gap, we even built a "download your information" product ( https://register.facebook.com/editaccount.php -> Download Your Information). It gives you a zip file with all your contact info, p…

If you agree it's wrong to allow a friend to export my e-mail address, why should Google allow it either? It seems like Facebook wants to have its cake and eat it too.

Google is, imho, perfectly within its rights to provide an email service that doesn't allow you to download your contacts easily, or doesn't allow it for certain services, or whatever. What I don't appreciate is the hypocritical Monday-morning-quarterbacking of how a very different service chooses to protect its users data.

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#68

Post by mikebo »

finiteloop wrote: post #66
mikebo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you agree it's wrong to allow a friend to export my e-mail address, why should Google allow it either? It seems like Facebook wants to have its cake and eat it too.

You added your friends email addresses in your Gmail address book. On Facebook, your friends put in their own email addresses into their profile and set the privacy settings around it. It is a subtle but important difference.

Fair point. Once I've imported my gmail contacts into Facebook though, I then should be able to import them out of Facebook by that logic?

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#69

Post by indigoviolet »

mikebo wrote: post #68
finiteloop wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You added your friends email addresses in your Gmail address book. On Facebook, your friends put in their own email addresses into their profile and set the privacy settings around it. It is a subtle but important difference.

Fair point. Once I've imported my gmail contacts into Facebook though, I then should be able to import them out of Facebook by that logic?

Why can't you just get them from Gmail?

Re: Facebook Finds A New Way To Liberate Your Gmail Contact Data

#70

Post by arron61 »

kmavm wrote: post #67
mikebo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you agree it's wrong to allow a friend to export my e-mail address, why should Google allow it either? It seems like Facebook wants to have its cake and eat it too.

Google is, imho, perfectly within its rights to provide an email service that doesn't allow you to download your contacts easily, or doesn't allow it for certain services, or whatever. What I don't appreciate is the hypocritical Monday-morning-quarterbacking of how a very different service chooses to protect its users data.

All Google is saying is if you don't allow us to do it, we won't allow you. So if FB wants to "protect its users data" then they should too. End of story. They didn't really do anything more other than news sites picking up the story and running headlines with it.
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