Its time to rethink Facebook. If you have an account, this is a heads-up. Read these news bullitens and decide if you want to be a part of a Facebook which hires this man:Accused of permitting unwarranted spying on citizens, torture, helping to blow a CIA agent's cover and firing non-political appointees for political reasons, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales left the White House shrouded in ignominy. Facebook just hired his former right-hand man, Ted Ullyot, as its general counsel. (Valleywag)
Ted Ullyot will join Facebook as its vice president and general counsel next month. His resume includes serving as a White House lawyer who helped coordinate the response to the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity and serving as chief of staff to former U.S. Atty. General Alberto Gonzales. Ullyot also complements the Facebook team from a political perspective. "Ted has extremely strong connections with the Republican party, and we think that's a good thing," said Facebook's vice president of communications and public policy. And it could make for some interesting debates. (Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2008)
Want to to try to leave Facebook? Sorry, it is a one way information gate: you can import your address books but there's no "official" way to export your Facebook friends email addresses or contact phone numbers out as a CSV. Two programs tried do this, facebookdownloader.com and Profilicious.com, but both have been shut down due to Facebook's terms of use. A registered Facebook application, Fonebook, will download your contacts' profile photo, profile web address, about me details, status details, but never their phone number or email address. In this way, Facebook works like a trap, a one-way flow of information, locking you in.
- Are you afraid of having someone with "extremely strong connections with the Republican party" and also served Mr. "Wiretap" Gonzales as the general attorney of Facebook, with access to your most personal information?
- Is this political matter important enough to make you flee Facebook?
