More Facebook API issues: if there’s a lawyer in the house, please respond…..
To quote the Facebook developer’s TOS:
B. Display*
1) You may display Facebook Properties retrieved through the Facebook Development Platform in any format you choose, subject to the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement; provided, that you may not in any event display to any user of your Application or any other person any Facebook Properties that such user or person would not properly be able to access through the Facebook Site (for example, and without limitation, you may not display information contained in any Facebook Properties that relates to one user to any other user unless such other user is a Facebook Site “friend” of the first user, is in one of the first user’s “networks” as identified on the Facebook Site, or is otherwise able on the Facebook Site to view such information relating to the first user). For the avoidance of doubt, the foregoing will not prohibit you from displaying information to users that you collect entirely independently of the Facebook Development Platform, even if such information is identical to information contained in Facebook Properties.
So here’s the issue - “can we display the list of friend’s one has in Facebook in PeopleAggregator?”
1. It seems that we are on the safe side if we Import a user’s profile data based on their direct action. It’s technically like enabling them to copy and paste their personal info into the PeopleAggregator profile. So as long as one of our PeopleAggregator end-users plugs in their Facebook username in password into their profile account - going and retrieving their profile info is copasetic.
2. But the issue arises with ‘friends’ of the end-user. Assuming that a friend’s name ‘belongs’ to the friend - can we show the friends name - if we attained access to that name (and photo) via the username and password of their FRIEND - the originating end-user? So in other words - can we display a list of one’s friends? Yes or no? Cause if it’s no - then that’s a bummer.
3. Then the issues arises of WHO can see this info. The wording implies that only people ‘logged into’ the PeopleAggregator can see any info at all - which is what we call ‘non anonymous viewing’. Does that apply here? Or can anyone (anon or not) see this info?
These are issues we’ve known were gonna come up - for years.
This is why the FOAFnet failed.
This is why I’ve been suggesting that we provide ways for end-users to ‘opt-into’ allowing their profile data (face, name, whatever) to be moved around by OTHERS. We believe that as long as an end-user has specifcially opted IN, then no one shoudl complain.
Clearly this is a bleeding edge issue. No one has ever encountered this before, because there have never been open APIs into social networks.
I know my legal eagle friend Denise Howell is reading.
How do you interpret this wording Denise? Maybe its time to give Mark Zuckerman a call. I tried to find him at the Techcrunch party, but alas, he wasn’t there.
August 24th, 2006 at 10:52 am
It’s not just Facebook. I’ve taken my Skype friends, scraped out their profile data using the Skype API, turned that into Lat/Long and displayed it on a Google Map. All without asking anyone. Most of the data is available for any Skype user with only a little limited to me as a friend.
And yes, we hit the same problem with FOAF. Which is why most of the people generating FOAF automatically, limited severely what data was actually exported. That and the commercial pressures of holding onto data.
Here’s one to ponder. You can export your Linkedin contacts as CSV including all their email addresses. And you can then do whatever you like with the data. But there’s no API to do it from a program.
August 24th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Hi,
Responded here: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Howell/?p=14
August 25th, 2006 at 12:18 am
[...] When we last visited this issue - I put out a call to all lawyerly types - to help me interpret the Facebook’s TOS regarding whether or not we can display a list of friends garnered from one’s Friend’s list that we get via the Facebook APIs rom one’s Facebook account. [...]
September 4th, 2006 at 11:20 am
[...] What if I could put a link in my Facebook profile (no widgets allowed for now) that sent a friend to the Radar signup page with my screenname as a reference? Or even better, a Radar badge on my Myspace profile showing the latest picture I taken using Radar. [...]
October 8th, 2006 at 9:55 am
Autor, Respect!
October 10th, 2006 at 10:04 am
!!! It is class to itself