Google vs. Facebook: Adult supervision desperately needed

You’d think the drinking water in Silicon Valley has been replaced with baby formula, given how childish some of the biggest companies in tech have acted this year. First on the Romper Room roll call is Steve Jobs, who has thrown tantrums over Adobe Flash, Android, lost prototypes, the tendency of his uberphone to lose […]

You’d think the drinking water in Silicon Valley has been replaced with baby formula, given how childish some of the biggest companies in tech have acted this year. First on the Romper Room roll call is Steve Jobs, who has thrown tantrums over Adobe Flash, Android, lost prototypes, the tendency of his uberphone to lose its signal when held the wrong way, and various other prickles that have lodged in his big boy pants.

Now Google and Facebook are squabbling like four-year-olds over who can access whose data and what they can do with it.

Google wants Facebook to release its headlock on its members’ data — specifically, phone numbers and email addresses. Being able to export contacts from Facebook would make it easier for people to, say, move all their stuff to a newer/spiffier social network. Facebook has so far steadily refused to let Google or anyone else play with its email toys, and will hold its breath until either Google stops asking or it turns blue, whatever comes first.

In retaliation, last week Google banned Facebook from accessing its Gmail Contacts API, making it harder to import Gmail contacts directly into your Facebook account. Take that, Lamebook.

Users should be able to control the data they store in any of Google’s products.

Facebook responded by exploiting a Google feature that allows Gmail users to download their own contact data to their hard drives, then upload it into Facebook. Neener neener, G-Luzers.

Various TechCrunch readers took turns spanking Vernal for various fibs in his diatribe, including “every Facebook user controls his or her own information” (except for the info Facebook controls), “Facebook doesn’t let users export their email address books to third parties” (except for Yahoo and Hotmail, with whom Facebook has negotiated special business deals), and “Facebook lets its users bring their info to millions of sites and applications” (except for Twitter, whose API Facebook blocked earlier this year).

And then there was this howler: “Our policy has been consistent.” By “consistent,” he apparently means “has not changed over the previous 24 hours.”

I’d say it’s time for the adults to step in and settle this fight before somebody puts an eye out, but I’m not sure there are any adults in this fight.

This article, “Google vs Facebook: Adult supervision desperately needed,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the crazy twists and turns of the tech industry with Robert X. Cringeley’s Notes from the Field blog, and subscribe to Cringely’s Notes from the Underground newsletter.