Sabrina Dent: Freelance web designer, developer and internet marketer living in Cork, Ireland with one dog and a husband in no particular order.
Robert Scoble is Naughty
I can’t believe I’m letting myself get sidetracked into this stupid shagging topic, but honestly, the endless debate around Facebook vs. Scoble is really irritating me.
Robert Scoble is a very nice man who was very mistaken when he scraped all of his friends’ data off of Facebook. His excuse is that we all agreed to him having our data when we made friends with him on Facebook.
Umm, no.
When I signed up for Facebook, I gave Facebook my data. When I let Scoble friend me, I gave Scoble access to my data. I didn’t give Scoble my data.
In fact, one reason I thought Facebook was fairly unobjectionable in the hierarchy of social networks is that they obscufate my email address. Since I have never put any effort into mining other people’s information, I actually thought my email address on Facebook couldn’t be scraped.
Boy, was I dumb. But not as dumb as Robert Scoble.
10 Jan 2008
| In: Crankypants |
Wholeheartedly agree. Silly Scoble.
10.01.2008, 9:15 amHave to disagree with you a bit Sabrina. You can hide your email addres if you want on FB. He was only taking those of the people who actually chose to share their emails AFAIK. If you friended me having chosen to expose your email address to me. Would you be surprised to get an email from me?
10.01.2008, 7:30 pmIt’s the birthday and other info that’s dodgy really I think. Of course apart from the fact that whoevers doing it for him can gather other info too…
Anton, yes the birthday and “other information” is indeed more dodgy. But I don’t think there’s much value in this current endless debate on “OK but how dodgy?” Bottom line: Scoble did a bad thing.
I actually have no objection to data portability across social networks in theory. I do however insist that I have to agree to my data being ported, and have granular control over what exactly you can have.
I never gave Scoble permission to port my data, and he never asked me what he could take. He assumed his judgment about what I would mind and what I wouldn’t mind was sound enough for both of us, and it isn’t. Scoble does not, in fact, know best.
10.01.2008, 7:49 pmHe didn’t just hoover out a bunch of emails we had a reasonable expectation (because they’re written as images, not HTML) weren’t exportable.
He handed them over to fucking PLAXO, who spent most of the last year accessing the address books of new users and spamming the shit out of everybody in them, without even asking first.
He’s being a monumental fucknut, and so is anyone who ignores the Plaxo part of this equation and sides with him.
10.01.2008, 11:04 pmI agree John and I think his spin of “I was trying to make a point” is utter bollox. I was just speaking to the general principal not the specific parties. As to the idea that you thought they were secure, well, if your friends list was only 10 people you wouldn’t think your email was secure so where’s the line? I wrote a couple of posts on the subject..
As to data portability I think it’s a grey area that’s relevance has a time limit. I don’t think it’s gonna be important enough for long enough to matter…
11.01.2008, 10:26 amFriends don’t scrape friends.
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