Facebook pushes for data portability legislation ahead of FTC hearing

Data portability - considered a potential remedy for large technology companies whose control of social media material makes it harder for smaller rivals to get started - has become a key part of the antitrust debate in the United States and Europe.

In April, Facebook allowed users in the United States and Canada to transfer photos and videos to Alphabet-owned Google Photos for the first time - a move that is likely to help the company respond to U.S.

Facebook supports a portability bill already doing the rounds in Congress called the Access Act from Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Mark Warner, and Republican senator Josh Hawley.

The social media platform is also pressing for more clarity on what kinds of data should be portable and who is responsible for protecting such information as it moves to different services, he added.

Data portability is a requirement under Europes privacy law called the General Data Protection Regulation and Californias privacy law called the California Consumer Protection Act .

Facebook developed its data portability tool as a member of the Data Transfer Project - which was formed to allow web users to easily move their data between online service providers whenever they want - and counts Facebook, Google, Microsoft , Twitter and Apple among its contributors.

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Author: Nandita Bose

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