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Facebook trails expanding portability tools ahead of FTC hearing

In comments on portability sent to US regulatorsahead of an FTC hearing on the topic next month, Facebook says it intends to expand the scope of its data portability offerings in the coming months.

It also offers some possible examples of how it could build on the photo portability tool it began rolling out last year suggesting it could in future allow users to transfer media theyve produced or shared on Facebook to a rival platform or take a copy of their most meaningful posts elsewhere.

It suggests expanding portability in such ways could help content creators build their brands on other platforms or help event organizers by enabling them to track Facebook events using calendar based tools.

However there are no firm commitments from Facebook to any specific portability product launches or expansions of what it offers currently.

For now the tech giant only lets Facebook users directly send copies of their photos to Googles eponymous photo storage service a transfer tool it switched on for all users this June.

In the short term, well pursue these destination partnerships through bilateral agreements informed by user interest and expressions of interest from potential partners.

Beyond allowing photo porting to Google Photos, Facebook users have long been able to download a copy of some of the information it holds on them.

But the kind of portability regulators are increasingly interested in is about going much further than that meaning offering mechanisms that enable easy and secure data transfers to other services in a way that could encourage and support fast-moving competition to attention-monopolizing tech giants.

The Federal Trade Commission is due to host a public workshop on September 22, 2020, which it says will examine the potential benefits and challenges to consumers and competition raised by data portability.

However its paper also notes the risk that requiring accreditation might present a barrier to entry for the small businesses and startups that might otherwise be best positioned to benefit from portability.

Original article
Author: Natasha Lomas

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Natasha Lomas has recently written 11 articles on similar topics including :
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