Escape from Alcatraz

My guess is that Facebook have done this preemptively to guard against the possibility of later legal trouble or anti-monopoly regulations.  Google did something similar with their Data Liberation Front. It also provides a clearer divide between users legitimately doing what they want with their own data and bots or screen scrapers which might be used for more nefarious purposes, such as by spam or phishing.



Unlike as suggested in this discussion of the Facebook movie I don't believe that there is any "major generational shift" with regard to privacy, in terms of some whole new attitude which will become the new norm.  I think it's just that if you're older you've accumulated more kipple in terms of personal history which potentially could have negative effects if it was all completely in the public domain.  Also older people are more likely to have health problems, and any revelations with regard to health can have quite substantial negative implications with regard to acquiring jobs, dating or other social activities.  For example, if a high ranking politician admits to any moderately interesting health problem there is an immediate media storm of speculation and the sharks begin circling waiting for any sign of weakness which can be exploited to their advantage.