Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash [Download]

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.

Original article
Author: Nandita Bose

Nandita Bose has recently written 5 articles on similar topics including :
  1. "The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee chaired by Republican Senator Roger Wicker will issue subpoenas to the chief executives of Twitter Inc, Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc if they do not agree to testify at a hearing on Oct. 1". (September 24, 2020)
  2. "The chief executives of Facebook and Twitter are set to testify before a congressional hearing on Tuesday that will explore their content moderation practices as Republicans accuse social media companies of censoring conservative speech". (November 17, 2020)
  3. "Three Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday urged Facebook Inc to enact the policy recommendations of the company's oversight board, empowering the independent group of advisers, which the lawmakers said have limited responsibilities". (August 11, 2020)
  4. "Facebook Inc will allow users in the United States and Canada to transfer photos and videos to a rival tech platform for the first time - a step that could assuage antitrust concerns by giving users an option to easily leave the company's services, the social media network said on Thursday". (April 30, 2020)
  5. "The chief executives of four of the largest U.S. tech companies plan to deflect criticism next week in a Congressional hearing into their use of market power to hurt rivals by saying they themselves face competition and by debunking claims they are so dominant". (July 23, 2020)
Posted on  , , , , , ,