The drama between Facebook and Google is getting downright childish. Now Google has changed its Gmail export contacts screen to a warning to users about the trap that they are about to enter by importing data into Facebook. Confused? Let us catch you up.
Google has always allowed other websites with sign-ups to ask users who register if they’d like to import their Google Gmail contacts. In the case of Facebook, users could use Google contacts to instantly find friends when they created a profile for the social network. Due to increased tension between Google and Facebook, this has changed.
Recent happenings:
- 2 days ago: Google shut off its data feed to Facebook
- Yesterday: Facebook finds a loophole and imports Gmail contacts anyway
- Yesterday: Facebook engineer fires back
Today: Google changes Gmail contacts export page
In a very direct response to Facebook’s loophole exploit, Google has changed the contact export page for users accessing it from Facebook’s workaround.
It now says the following: “Hold on a second. Are you super sure you want to import your contact information for your friends into a service that won’t let you get it out? Here’s the not-so-fine print. You have been directed to this page from a site that doesn’t allow you to re-export your data to other services, essentially locking up your contact data about your friends. So once you import your data there, you won’t be able to get it out. We think this is an important thing for you to know before you import your data there. Although we strongly disagree with this data protectionism, the choice is yours. Because, after all, you should have control over your data.”
Then the message asks users if they’d like to continue to export their contacts or instead lodge an anonymous complaint with Facebook.
Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Google is supposed to “do no evil,” but how is it doing good by attacking Facebook like this? Much like democracy, perhaps Internet freedom is best learned over time. Is it right to force freedom on the rest of the web? After all, no one has to sign up for Facebook.
I don't see how it's childish that Google is letting people know the truth about what happens to their imported contacts.
If you would rather be left in the dark… if you think that will make your contacts safe, then that's your opinion. Personally though, I think that Google has shown great responsibility by making people aware of the truth.
In Mark Zuckerberg's latest talks about it, he wasn't sure if what they were doing was right or not…. sounds like the kind of company I would trust to hold my contact list. If I want my contacts out of Facebook, it should be MY choice. If anything's childish, it's that FB doesn't let you do this, and that they have no idea whether they're wrong about it.
I'm a strong believer that I should be able to control the data I create.
This happened to me where my GM contacts got uploaded to FB and then all my contacts got friended without my knowledge. Its wrong of FB to do this and its about time Google makes its users aware of the potential issues.
At first reading I was surprised hearing Google was the one cutting them off, but when I saw the notice I was impressed. I really don’t like all the declarations and supreme authority that Facebook dictates at will for the site. I know someone who is a local actor and their stage name is different from the legal one and Facebook shut her page and the last three years of her connections because someone claimed that she was impersonating someone else. To restore that she is to show proof of ID (they want two) and she was denied access back and sending a prewritten bunch of crap about Facebook and their integrity. They said she needs to set up her true profile and then create her “characters” fan page. AOL started getting this way and just as they did, people will move on to the next big thing when it does. If they would all just stop trying to be the only portal and not let you leave. I am really only on Facebook because everyone else is. So although Google is starting to seem to be on it’s way to trying a world take over, they at least let most info known. I am waiting for them to try and sue for royalties on people’s photos since they claim they own it if it gets loaded on their, I mean your page.
Classic Sensationalist Journalism getting it wrong again : G-Mail is being open, bu they are warning that Facebook isn't. That actually is in compliant with Google's 'Do No Evil' policy.
htt p:// no person committee do t or g
Oh! Please get real…