January 4, 2008...10:52 pm
“Erased”- The real issue when it comes to controlling your data on the Web
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Robert Scoble: “I was erased.”
I’m back in Robert’s camp on this one. While he did violate the TOS for Facebook by running the Plaxo script, it does seem extreme to take a first-time offender and completely remove their account and data with no recourse. How much sense it makes to invest in “free” Web services when you have no control over what they ultimately do with your data? One wrong move and all of your time and energy invested in creating data- your profile, your book reviews, your movie preferences, etc.- is completely wasted. Makes you think.
4 Comments
January 5, 2008 at 1:07 am
How, exactly, do you “invest” in something that is free? If you don’t read and understand the TOS before signing up, well, shame on you. Almost all these free services (myspace, FB, flicker, you name it) have similar TOS which basically say you agree to use this service at your own risk, they can turn it off anytime they want and are under no obligation to inform you beforehand, AND you basically agree you will not sue them. So, yes it does make you think. Makes me think people are naive if they expect anything more out of these services than what they agree to when they sign up.
January 5, 2008 at 8:04 am
Luis- you invest your time and energy. And I agree with you- it is all about the TOS. When you use a free service and your data is locked-in by design, you can lose it at a moment’s notice. Not many people think about that while they spend hours and hours creating the content that makes a site like Facebook worth using.
January 5, 2008 at 5:28 pm
I’m not sure how this puts you back in Scobles camp. Seems you agree that you get what you pay for. No matter how much time and energy you invest in FB, they are under no obligation to ensure you have continuous access to your data. You agreed to that when you created an account
January 6, 2008 at 7:57 am
Luis- Scoble wants these services to open up their data because he is concerned about being “erased” in the future (or more accurately, he is concerned about “ownership”). I too am concerned about it. He thinks the services *have to* open up to respond to consumers- I think they should consider it if it can fit with their business plans. We’re in the same camp, even if we don’t agree on every detail.
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