feedburner users - give your data to google, or LOSE your account
Yep, that's right folks. As we know, Google have purchased Feedburner, and they have also decided that if you don't want Google to have your data, then you can't have it either.
I saw this notice today when signing in to Feedburner on a different computer to that which I normally use:
NOTE: Service of FeedBurner publisher accounts will not be interrupted as a result of the acquisition by Google. You will have a 14-day interim period ending June 15, 2007 to opt-out of allowing Google to service your account. If you take no action by June 15, 2007, the rights to your data will transfer from FeedBurner to Google. Opting out will terminate your user agreement with FeedBurner, permanently delete your FeedBurner account, feeds, and all related statistical data and history, and prevent the transfer of your data rights to Google. To opt-out, contact us via accountx@feedburner.com, provide your FeedBurner account Username, and request to have your FeedBurner account deleted. We will contact you at your registered email address to confirm your deletion request before completing it.
As you can see, if you don't specifically opt out (aka choose to delete your account), Google immediately gets the rights to your data. But I have some questions - what happens to users who have taken advantage of their Web browser's ability to save their username and passwords, or use a password manager to automatically sign in to Feedburner? What notification do they get? What about users who don't try to access their Feedburner account during this 14 day interim period? Too bad if you're busy exploring the Serangeti or something like that. For example, I'm heading off to Egypt, followed by Switzerland and France, later this year and will be without internet access for several weeks because I don't want to take my laptops into what are going to be some high-theft environments and I refuse to use Internet Cafes - and anyway, I deserve a holiday dagnabit, and my blog and sites simply can't complete with the attractions of the Pyramids, the Sphinx or Mont St Michel. If it just so happened that my trip was happening *now*, would my data be passed on to Google without warning even though I had not accessed my account?
A 14 day interim period is simply not long enough. Nor should Feedburner pass their user's data on to Google unless there is concrete evidence that the user has tried to access their account AND that they have viewed the opt-out notice.
As for the declared attitude of "give it to Google or we delete it" ... that sucks.