Facebook Connect for iPhone: Great, or Yet Another Privacy Threat?
Facebook today announced Facebook Connect, its proprietary technology which allows the sharing of data between Facebook and third party applications, can now be integrated into iPhone and iPod Touch applications. This new feature will work in much the same way that Facebook Connect has worked for Web pages over the past few months, by providing a one stop shop for login and allowing you to share your data with your Facebook friends.
But the news again brings up the question of whether we should trust this company that seems to continuously place user privacy on the back burner almost every time it announces some new or innovative feature.
The idea of Facebook Connect for iPhone is to solve two problems at once:
- Give developers an easy way to socially enable their applications without having to write a whole supporting back-end
- To promote the Facebook Connect platform and give iPhone users with Facebook accounts an easy way to share information
While the majority of participating iPhone applications announced today are games - see the full list here - clearly the company expects other mobile platforms and a greater selection of applications for the mobile market to jump on the bandwagon.
But will they - and more importantly, should they?
Apologies Aplenty from Facebook
Last summer, we wrote about the potential dangers of Facebook Connect. At the time, MySpace ruled supreme in the United States but recently, Facebook has taken over. While the turnaround wasn't really surprising, it may make our point from last year all the more relevant:
"Facebook Connect put the power of the social web into the hands of one company. One private company. Not only that, but a company that's known for rolling out changes without so much as a warning to its users then having to react to the ensuing uproar."
The example we used at the time was the much maligned Beacon, the advertising system that sent data from external sites back to Facebook, and its disastrous beginnings with a default opt-out setting, that launched before users were given a way to opt-out.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's response after the debacle: "We've made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we've made even more with how we've handled them. We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it."
Zuckerberg again was all about regret in February this year, when he revoked the changes Facebook made to its Terms of Service.
Both examples of backtracking and apologies only came about after a backlash from users.
We also pointed out that it appears Facebook's direction has changed somewhat when it comes to privacy, and wrote that it's still difficult to imagine this is due to the company genuinely caring, and more likely the result that they've learned to cater to users' demands.
"Facebook has always known that their value - that is, their monetary value - is selling off bits and pieces of your privacy to advertisers. The "real you" on Facebook is a holy grail for marketers."
With that in mind, what will become of the new Facebook Connect for iPhone service? While no doubt it will be useful to many of Facebook's 175 million users, the question remains: Should we trust in Facebook as it figures out how to cash in on the power of the mobile Web?
Facebook
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
TRUST FACEBOOK..is that a serious question??? You have to be the dumbest F*&^ in the world to trust Facebook with your info.
The company is pure evil and has already tried countless times in the past to sell off our data in any way possible. Plus Zuckerberg, the leader of the sheepish facebook army, is himself a thief in his own right.
Let's move on to more useful apps that make a difference in our lives and not marketing plays to swindle us out of our time and privacy. Trust me people, Facebook is a $500 million investment/experiment in how stupid the human race is and how that can be exploited.
Why should be trust any marketing company? I put my home phone on the Do Not Call list and it worked for awhile. Then I started getting calls - pre-recorded call - even though my home phone is still on the Do Not Call list. I guess these idiots have found a "legal" way around the law.
Marketers are scum-bags and they will use your private data to their advantage. I DON'T TRUST THEM. But, I'm sure they will find a way to attack our private cell phones to leverage their marketing ploys - even though we pay for our cell phones through our own money. Facebook is just another SCUM BAG!
Thank you for being a tech blog that doesn't just regurgitate Facebook press releases. Half the writers of the other blogs are "Facebook" friends with Mark Zuckerberg. It is refreshing too see a blog about the web that is actually concerned about the future of the web and not just your own "access".
Two quick points, first I find it ironic that ReadWriteWeb enables comments to be left here using Facebook Connect to sign-in as you question FB's veracity around privacy issues ;)
Second, the privacy issues raised by Facebook remind me how gov't justified privacy violations over the Bush Jr years. In the gov't's case it was all about needing to violate our privacy in exchange for providing people greater security. In FB's case it's doing so as to provide greater convenience to people. Certainly a more effective message, but in the end it's our privacy that's being quickly rendered meaningless.
With all of the controls they give you, there are still gaps that most people some times miss. For example, a friend puts up a pic and tags you. This enables all of your friends to not only see your pic (which you might be OK with), but they can now see all of the other pics that that person put up even if that person's intent was that only you and their friends cold enjoy these. Now if you comment on the pic, once again, all of your friends will see this and be able to go through the other pics that person put up. Unexpected effect that might not sit well depending on the situation.
Anyway, probably best to start thinking of a world where we don't have privacy in order to start figuring out how we might adjust our behavior accordingly ;)
It is a very brilliant move, we were discussing about the P&C of iphone+Facebook integration at #facebookgarage Chennai chapter. Developers are pretty excited about this and money making will not stick to Facebook alone
Of course there are privacy concerns, as with almost anything Facebook or other social networks do. But from Facebook's perspective it's definitely a great move.
Facebook, how can we trust them now? Zuckerberg should put a high emphasis on user privacy but instead admits to 'mistakes' - really it was sneaky, underhanded activity when they changed the terms and conditions on us overnight. Actions speak louder than words. They are clearly focused on how to 'legally' gain ownership of user information for continuous greed, control and power. Technology and social networking are wonderful, but in the hands of those who are trying to lie, cheat and steal, you cannot trust that your privacy is protected.