Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Tuesday 22 April 2008, 4:39 PM
Social networking and portability
Hogben was suggesting, as he did in a report to the European Commission last year, that users of social networking sites like Facebook should be able to export their profiles - a "secure briefcase", in his words - rather than being stuck in the current situation, where it is impossible to get your data off Facebook's servers whether or not you "deactivate" your account. In other words, the social network's servers won't hold your profile - you will, encrypted on a USB key. Which you can then take around different social networks.
I can see his point, but also the obvious flaw. Despite OpenSocial and such initiatives, can you imagine social networks really opening the door for their users to wander off with all their data, not leaving any "stickiness" for the social network? Perhaps I'm being overly cynical, but I think it'll be a cold day in hell before we see the likes of Facebook agree to that. In the words of Hogben, speaking to me after the abbreviated panel discussion: "The social network provider would provide you with a platform, but they wouldn't get to see the data."
Then how would they make any money and stay viable? If the EC takes this suggestion on board then we're in for an entertaining fight.
PreviousComments on this post
How would they make money and stay viable? Are you suggesting that MySpace and Facebook currently have a plan to achieve either?
That aside, there is something to be said for the data living away from the site in a secure store and maybe something developed around OpenID could facilitate that. Companies like ClickPass (http://www.clickpass.com) allow you to have a central ID and to authenticate onto sites automatically and it needn't be a huge step for them to add maintainance of your full identity - maintain it there and it gets pushed out to whatever sites you have allowed to "borrow" your credentials so you can have a profile on the site. When you want to end your relationship, you just revoke the conenction with the networking site - simple.
I have long wondered what Google and Microsoft will do to assert their authority in social networking and maybe this could be the answer. They could provide secure "portals", from which you control your identity, read feeds and get SSO into the destination sites. From here you control everything.
I'll be watching this space with interest. As CEO of a social networking site for business, but someone with a background in infosec, how these two seemingly conflicting worlds merge will be fascinating.
Ian Hendry
http://www.wecando.biz
I totally agree that the social networking companies themselves will never sanction this if they are making money from keeping people's personal data. However - if tools and standards are created which make it possible to move between social networks, or even better, to use them as a platform, while keeping your data opaque to the social network provider and advertisers etc... - they may not have a choice. People will only be willing to pay with their privacy if they have no other option.
