The Scoble Vs Facebook event

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This is a response to a post on Segala: Scoble opens up debate about walled gardens after being booted by Facebook.

There are two key factors to take into account. The first of these is the issue of privacy and the second is the free flow of information.

Unlike most other sites facebook is both hated and detested by different groups of users. As a recent university graduate and member of the international community it’s a great way to keep up with what my friends are doing without having to make hundreds of five second phone calls.

The second aspect has to do with Openness. Facebook was started as a forum based on one campus in one university but due to it’s popularity expanded further. As a result it became a national and then international sensation. That’s whilst still a student based website.

This is where the issue of privacy plays a key role. If we are to trust this website then it must make sure to do everything within it’s power to stop information collected. That includes e-mail and phone numbers,

What you display is your choice and your friends can do what they want with that information, within the limiations set forth by facebook.

That’s where trust comes in. Without trust Facebook will dissapear much faster than any network because people give real names, real relationships and real addresses. Identity theft would be a disaster.

Now how does this all fit in with Robert Scoble?

He’s got over five thousand facebook friends. If he decides to collect all the details we’ve offered up to facebook then both Robert Scoble and Facebook will suffer. Scoble for a breach of trust. Facebook for the same.

Now what good has come of this so far? We’ve seen that they take privacy very seriously. So seriously that they’re ready to get a storm of criticism for banning one of it’s best known members (within the geek community).

I actually feel far more secure in how Facebook deals with my information now that this has come to light. I think that if facebook bring this point to light they are going to gain a great amount of credibility.


Comments

4 responses to “The Scoble Vs Facebook event”

  1. Why is it OK for Facebook to import your contacts from Gmail but it isn’t OK for it to export back out to Gmail?

  2. Because when you get details from a friend you’re asking them directly, whereas with Facebook they gave the information the site, not specifically to you.

    From a legal point of view collecting that information without permission from the user would go against people’s ethical standards.

    It fuels the debate about giving your real name and details even further. We’ve already discussed it on Seesmic last year (a week ago in real time).

  3. Dave Evans avatar
    Dave Evans

    I don’t see it that way, when you become someone’s friend / follower / contact on any social site then you are explicitly giving them access to the data you have let them see on that site.

    In any case I learned decades ago that anything published on the Internet is public. Facebook et al don’t use SSL – all the stuff is sent in plain text over the public network.

  4. Cancel your Plaxo account if you care about privacy…

    I wrote a blog post earlier today about Facebook disabling Robert Scoble’s account for attempting to extract his contacts’ information using a script.
    Since writing my post and conversing with what felt like the universe on Twitter about the ma…

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