Comments on: Facebook Connect officially open

And it's poised to win the ID portability, not just because so many people have a Facebook account but because of publicity that site owners will get in return.

[andrew.mager]

Yea, the "social" network is Facebook. Google is more like a utility to me. I don't wanna use it to communicate. Frankly, I don't trust it.

[Kev_Orng]

What are the settings I have to change to ensure that Facebook's servers do not talk to other servers about what I'm doing, and how do I opt out of all of Facebook Connect's functionality?

[DnetMHZ]

Just don't use it?

[SteveNacho]

Just don't connect

[DnetMHZ]

There is enough crap on Facebook as it is. I don't need to see every time "John Doe found a restaurant in New York!"

[gonumber2539]

Rubbish! Who are you to say that the millions (if not billions) of us out there who dislike services like Facebook should use it as our login. There are better alternatives - and their logins are NOT tied to a specific technology. Watch this space.

[toresteen]

It is great to see website owners realizing they can both increase registrations and gather rich profile/social data by accepting third party accounts such as Facebook, AOL, Yahoo!, and Google. However, it does not need to be a decision between Facebook and OpenID. Why shouldn't websites allow users to sign in with any one of their preferred third party accounts? While the undertaking to connect all these services on a website might seem challenging, JanRain recently launched a quick and easy hosted service that does all this for the site. It is called RPX and can be downloaded at http://rpxnow.com.

[ross613]

"One can argue the merits of platforms like OpenID or Google's Friend Connect"

....or Microsoft's Live ID (formerly known as Passport). Forgot about that again, did we? Perfectly understandable - after all, it's only the largest and most widely adopted authentication system online today. But at least OpenID and the even better-known "Friend Connect" services were mentioned...

Anyway, Live ID integrates best with apps running on Microsoft's .NET platform and is already used by millions who've signed up for Live Messenger and/or other online services. I'm skeptical that with such a legacy Facebook will simply instantly catch up or overtake Microsoft with this new service, but we'll see.

[samkass]

Funny, I've never seen a single site that required me to have a LiveID (I don't have one). Maybe it's only important if you use Windows? Dunno.

Anyway, since Facebook is just another thinly veiled Microsoft-controlled company at this point I think the entire POINT of this is to get LiveID actually used somewhere relevant.

[merelogic]

@andrew.mager

Facebook wasn't supposed to be trusted first due to first the Beacon and then Microsoft's involvement. But frankly, I think Google has lived long enough to see itself become the villain (taken from The Dark Knight :))

[sting7k]

So what is this exactly? Just the Facebook version of Microsoft's LIVE ID (pasport) it would seem. I don't really see the point.

[Dalkorian]

You don't see the point, or you don't see the benefit to you? The point is simple - funnel all your online data and activities to Facebook for commercial use that you don't profit from.

The benefit to you?
???

[getFBout]

thanks for this story

[baisa]

Is this the same Facebook that abused users' privacy information a few months back with their opt-out-by-default sharing system, that did things like expose movie rentals and book purchases users made for the world to see???

I am amazed anyone would trust Facebook with anything, let alone giving them the master keys to all your web logins.

[sashyrichmond]

amazing!

[zcollvee]

when is fb connect coming to CNET?

[troutsoup]

ug. openID hasnt caught on yet. msn passport is used i think on 3 sites. what i can see happening is everyone trying to make their log-on anywhere technology and sites being cluttered by them.

[humanssssss]

Facebook is known to intrude on user's privacy and then say sorry later. News feed, beacon, etc. I don't trust this company one bit. I have a hard time believing this company will pass a certain stage. Its revenue will dwindle and people on facebook will find the free service a thing of the past.

They have no revenue model that's growing or sustaining.

[therealgeeves]

As with all central systems, it will be a disaster when the data is released into the wild - by none other than a person from within facebook - this has only happened a few times in UK - searh for this:

"HM Revenue and Customs has lost computer discs containing the entire child benefit records, including the personal details of 25 million people"

Do you trust a central system with your entire life info + your friends...?
paranoia, yes but it pays to be careful.

[Harrison912]

Thanks, Rafe, for this information. I'm on FaceBook mainly to socially market my safety and security web site as well as raise awareness for it's products. Although I don't require a log in to purchase right now, I may at some time in the future so this is good to know.

[kingjames128]

I'm running FB Connect on my site!

Comments can be published to News Feed. We have community features (i.e. view FB friends on the site) but they're a little buggy. The link is:

http://www.RantBlogger.com