14 DAY TRIAL // Google and Facebook are at it again. The two companies are having a battle of the words (and some actions) over contacts data with Google trying to get Facebook to open up. The two internet giants have been taking stabs at each other for the past week and it was Google's turn to make a move.
Indeed it has and it doesn't get any clearer than this, Google is warning users trying to get their data into Facebook that they're about to "trap their contacts" with no way of ever getting them out again.
Google's salvo comes as a response to Facebook's move, which in turn came as a response to Google's previous one and so on.
The issue isn't exactly new, but it has exploded into an all out war over the past week. Facebook has never allowed third parties access to contact data, even with the user's approval. This despite the fact that the site has tools to import data from every large email providers and other services.
The social network says that this is because the users don't actually own the contact data of their friends, the email addresses or phone numbers. Of course, that doesn't exactly mean that their friends own that data, instead Facebook more or less owns it and does with it what it likes.
The site actually provides access to that data to Microsoft's Hotmail and to Yahoo Mail, just not to Google or other, smaller players.
In this context, Google fired the first shot last week when it updated its API terms of service effectively blocking Facebook from accessing the Contacts API.
Facebook retaliated by offering users a direct link to their contacts data from Google and instructing them to download the file and upload it to the social network.
Google responded saying that it was "disappointed" with Facebook taking this route rather than opening up, but that seemed to be the end of it.
Far from it though, Google is now redirecting Facebook users trying to access their data to a very clear warning page. Google doesn't mince its words either, labeling the page as "Trap my contacts now."
"Hold on a second. Are you super sure you want to import your contact information for your friends into a service that won’t let you get it out?," the Google page reads.
"Here’s the not-so-fine print. You have been directed to this page from a site that doesn’t allow you to re-export your data to other services, essentially locking up your contact data about your friends. So once you import your data there, you won’t be able to get it out," it continues.
"We think this is an important thing for you to know before you import your data there. Although we strongly disagree with this data protectionism, the choice is yours. Because, after all, you should have control over your data," it adds.
Users then have the choice of proceeding with the export, or registering a complaint to have Facebook open up its data. It's unclear what exactly that complaint does though.
Interestingly enough, the page is also offered in Portuguese, the Brazilian variety. It's no coincidence that Brazil is the country where Orkut, Google's social network, is the most popular and where Facebook has been very aggressive. It remains to be seen if Facebook will reply to this or just leave it be.