How Can a Small Business Avoid Appearing Like Big Brother When Employing Facebook’s Open Graph API?

At the 2010 F8 conference, Facebook showcased a new concept called Open Graph, a plan to bring the user activity it accumulates to the rest of the web.  It is a revolutionary idea that will allow brands to create more targeted and personal experiences that increase a brand’s relevance in the social media world.  While the announcement is potentially good news for marketers out to prosper from the Facebook frenzy, it raises legitimate concerns for millions of consumers who have reservations about privacy. 

The launch of Open Graph has some dubbing Facebook as “Big Brother” due to the fact that it has control of so much of the consumer’s personal information, data that can now be transferred to marketers, developers, and content publishers.  One of the biggest controversies surrounding the privacy issue relates to a policy that affects how user data is handled.  Up until recently, any data collected through a Facebook app could only be stored for a period of 24 hours.  Under the new policy, brands can now keep that information permanently.  Some consumers are concerned about the removal of the restriction, but the new policy is one that really only affects brands and their developers, ultimately making life easier for both parties. 

Much has been made over the privacy implications of Facebook’s Open Graph API, but consumers shouldn’t notice much of a difference compared to the settings that are currently familiar with.  Users still have control over whether they want to share data, and what data they share.  The major change is how that information will be integrated and used to create the Facebook experience across the web.  However, consumers who are concerned about privacy should be proactive about making sure they understand what personal information they are giving an application and the brand that owns it.  With Open Graph, their activities now travel outside of Facebook for the benefit of others who may be interested in the same content.  In short, it is essentially the consumer’s responsibility to ensure their own privacy.   

Even though the Open Graph API will not drastically change Facebook’s privacy system like some are assuming, small business owners should still make all attempts to avoid the Big Brother title.  At this point, the best thing you can do is educate consumers on how the information collected by your applications will be used.  This includes clearly explaining that their interaction with those apps may appear on different sites to create personalized experiences for other users.  With Google Buzz, Google learned the hard that not all users are aware of an application’s privacy settings.  Facebook will undoubtedly try its best to avoid a privacy mess by informing its users, and all small businesses should follow suit by doing the same.    

Within approximately a year’s time, Facebook has grown its user base by more than 200 million.  As one of the most dominant forces in the internet world, it is very likely that the Open Graph concept will take off and become widely adopted across the web.  With the power to boost marketing efforts by creating personalized experiences comes a lot of responsibility, and small businesses must do their part to keep consumers at ease.