Last week we saw a tremendous echo from CNET to New York Times on an Open-Xchange software tool that helps users to export Facebook contact info. As media reported later that Facebook unilaterally deactivated that tool, several Open-Xchange customers asked for more information, if and how this might affect their Open-Xchange installation.
This will help you to answer questions that might come up:
The Open-Xchange tool to export Facebook contacts is not part of an Open-Xchange product.Facebook´s deactivation has no impact at all for any of your customer using a Open-Xchange.The Open-Xchange tool to export Facebook contacts is part of a testing and preview Server called ox.io, which gives free access to the latest Open-Xchange development. Everybody is encouraged to register for a free personalized demo account to interact with upcoming features of the Open-Xchange product.What Facebook actually deactivated was the API key we were using for ox.io. We generated a new API key and are back up and running
Facebook and Google+ are selling access to user´s private information to the highest bidder whose aim is to generate revenue from ads and partnerships. And with users starting to move over to Google+, Facebook showed us that they are unwilling to let users get out what they put into such social platforms: mainly one’s data. Last week´s experiment has shown a really ugly side of what can happen when a company restricts the true value of going social: sharing one’s data.
Service Providers have the unique opportunity to position themself with Open-Xchange in a different way in the area of Social Networking and personal productivity:
In contrast to Google and Facebook, neither service providers nor Open-Xchange makes their money with customer data, rather we partner in offering compelling services that enable users to have access to their relevant data anywhere, anytime and with any device.
At Open-Xchange we are fully convinced that customer awareness will grow about who truly controls and owns their data. As content moves increasingly to the cloud it becomes vital that users retain the right to decide how, when and if sharing platforms have access, to or remove one’s data.
Service providers can and should continue delivering this value for users – Google and Facebook have already decided otherwise.