Facebook exec downplays Google row

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya said Wednesday that the social network wants to work with anyone, including Google, as long as the company respects privacy.

Palihapitiya called a recent tussle with Google over the search giant's new social-networking application Friend Connect a "tempest in a teapot."

"Google built an application that violated our terms of service so we asked them, like we do with all applications that violate our terms of service, to remediate," Palihapitya, vice president of product marketing, said here Wednesday in an interview after a press event.

"We temporarily blocked them until it's fixed. We're waiting for the application to conform to our terms of service," he added.

Palihapitiya's comments come days after Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg said he wants to sit down with Google to resolve issues surrounding the search engine's use of Facebook data.

Facebook and Google have been fighting over Google's Friend Connect service, which allows Web sites to add social-networking features. Facebook said the Google application violated its terms of service by redistributing Facebook user information to other developers without users' knowledge. Google denied the claims, and even took the step of putting up a primer on how its service works.

Facebook also recently announced that it would be extending its API to make data portable to external sites through Facebook Connect.

"Our focus is to ensure people have control over their information. We (blocked Google's Friend Connect) so third-party sites respect members' information," Palihapitiya said.

"As long as that happens we want to allow our users to share their information with everyone," he added. "We want to work with anyone. But the privacy model has to be respectful of users. "

[coryschulz]

Google should buy Facebook. It would be perfect.

[skurewu]

Yea, so then instead of making useful products like gmail, they could devote more time to perfecting web apps like "Super Wall" and find new ways to spam users with useless application invites and help even more self-incriminating college students screw themselves over when searching for jobs. On a side note, that picture of me drinking a beer while playing foozball was priceless, good times... Maybe Facebook shouldn't release an insecure API or permit activity on its site to exploit its users in the first place, then they wouldn't have to play baby sitter and single Google out. As far as software goes, the best design doesn't make exceptions on a case by case basis, instead you design the system securely by avoiding features that would screw over your users in the future. PEACE *******.

[skurewu]

Yea, so then instead of making useful products like gmail, they could devote more time to perfecting web apps like "Super Wall" and find new ways to spam users with useless application invites and help even more self-incriminating college students screw themselves over when searching for jobs. On a side note, that picture of me drinking a beer while playing foozball was priceless, good times... Maybe Facebook shouldn't release an insecure API or permit activity on its site to exploit its users in the first place, then they wouldn't have to play baby sitter and single Google out. As far as software goes, the best design doesn't make exceptions on a case by case basis, instead you design the system securely by avoiding features that would screw over your users in the future. PEACE *******.

[benjaminstraight]

I thought that Google was a privacy advocate. Remember how they were the only email server that refused to turn over records to the government a few years ago?

[benjaminstraight]

There is no privacy on Facebook because of the users.