Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter partner for ambitious new data project

guest · Jul 20, 2018

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter partner for ambitious new data project
An open-source collaboration for ‘the future of portability’
July 20, 2018
https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/20/17589246/data-transfer-project-google-facebook-microsoft-twitter

Today, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter joined to announce a new standards initiative called the Data Transfer Project, designed as a new way to move data between platforms. In a blog post, Google described the project as letting users “transfer data directly from one service to another, without needing to download and re-upload it.”

The current version of the system supports data transfer for photos, mail, contacts, calendars, and tasks, drawing from publicly available APIs from Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram, Remember the Milk, and SmugMug. [...] In its own blog post, Microsoft called for more companies to sign onto the effort, adding that “portability and interoperability are central to cloud innovation and competition.”

The existing code for the project is available open-source on GitHub, along with a white paper describing its scope.

“The future of portability will need to be more inclusive, flexible, and open,” reads the white paper. “Our hope for this project is that it will enable a connection between any two public-facing product interfaces for importing and exporting data directly.”
Click to expand...

guest · Jul 24, 2018

Privacy Questions Raised as Tech Giants Join Forces on Data Portability
Security researchers have concerns about the privacy implications of Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter’s Data Transfer Project.
July 24, 2018
https://threatpost.com/privacy-ques...iants-join-forces-on-data-portability/134315/

But security researchers believe the project’s privacy implications need to be better vetted.

The benefits are varied; for one, the interoperability will make it easier for users to move their cherished digital data from one service to another without worrying that something will be lost in translation, and without having to jump through a lot of hoops.

“Services must first agree to allow data transfer between them, and then they will require that individuals authenticate each account independently,” it explained. “All credentials and user data will be encrypted both in transit and at rest. The protocol uses a form of perfect forward secrecy where a new unique key is generated for each transfer.
Concerns Remain
“Taken by itself, the project does little to improve the security of consumer data; it provides new options for consumers to safely share data between services. The distinction is that consumers may gain control over transferring data, while the security of the data is unchanged or potentially diminished by having copies of data stored in multiple services.”
Click to expand...

guest · Sep 1, 2019

Apple Is Now A Part Of Open-Source “Data Transfer Project”
July 31, 2019
https://fossbytes.com/apple-joins-open-source-data-transfer-project/

The recently-launched open-source project for the transfer of user data between two services — the Data Transfer Project — now has a new member of the team in the form of Apple.
Apple has joined the Data Transfer Project in addition to various other companies such as Google, Microsoft, Twitter, and Facebook.
What Could Apple’s Entry Mean?
While Google and other companies tend to be open platforms, Apple’s ecosystem is relatively closed. The Cupertino giant’s entry to the Data Transfer Project will lead to a direct and more-than-easy sharing of data between other frameworks, which is presently not that easy.

Currently, the Data Transfer Project is in the developing stage with new improvements and features on its way.
Click to expand...

guest · Dec 2, 2019

Facebook launches a photo portability tool, starting in Ireland
December 2, 2019
https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/02/facebook-launches-a-photo-portability-tool-starting-in-ireland/

It’s not friend portability, but Facebook has announced the launch today of a photo transfer tool to enable users of its social network to port their photos directly to Google’s photo storage service, via encrypted transfer.

The photo portability feature is initially being offered to Facebook users in Ireland, where the company’s international HQ is based. Facebook says it is still testing and tweaking the feature based on feedback but slates “worldwide availability” as coming in the first half of 2020.
It also suggests porting to other photo storage services will be supported in the future, in addition to Google Photos — which specifying which services it may seek to add.

Facebook says the tool is based on code developed via its participation in the Data Transfer Project — [...]
It’s certainly true that portability of user uploaded data can be helpful in encouraging people to feel they can move from a dominant service.
Click to expand...

guest · Apr 30, 2020

mood said: ↑

Facebook launches a photo portability tool, starting in Ireland December 2, 2019
Click to expand...

Facebook now lets U.S. users transfer images and videos directly to Google Photos
April 30, 2020
https://venturebeat.com/2020/04/30/...-images-and-videos-directly-to-google-photos/

Facebook 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.

The tool lets Facebook users transfer data stored on its servers directly to another photo storage service, in this case Google Photos – a feature known as data portability.
U.S. and Canadian users will be able to access the tool through their Facebook accounts starting Thursday. The function has already been launched in several countries including in Europe and Latin America.

It allows the social media company to give users more control over their data and respond to U.S. regulators and lawmakers who are investigating its competitive practices and allegations it has stifled competition.
Click to expand...

Facebook developed its data portability tool as a member of the Data Transfer Project – [...]
On a call with academics and policy experts from the fields of competition and privacy on Wednesday, Facebook said it is moving deliberately on data transfer partnerships with third-parties to avoid a repeat of the Cambridge Analytica incident.
Click to expand...

guest · Jun 4, 2020

All Facebook users can now access a tool to port data to Google Photos
June 4, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/04/a...-access-a-tool-to-port-data-to-google-photos/

Facebook’s photo transfer tool is now available globally half a year on from an initial rollout in Europe, the company said today.

The data portability feature enables users of the social network to directly port a copy of their photos to Google’s eponymous photo storage service via encrypted transfer, rather than needing to download and manually upload photos themselves — thereby reducing the hassle involved with switching to a rival service.
Facebook users can find the option to “Transfer a copy of your photos and videos” under the Your Facebook Information settings menu.

Facebook debuted the feature in Ireland at the back end of last year, going on to open it up to more international markets earlier this year and grant access to users in the US and Canada come April.
Click to expand...

Given all that, it would be interesting to know how many Facebook users have actually made use of the photo porting tool in the half-year since it launched to a sub-set of users.

A Facebook spokesman told us he did not have “specific numbers to share at this time” — but claimed it’s seen “many” users making photo transfers via the tool.

“We’ve received some positive feedback from stakeholders who have been giving feedback on the product throughout the rollout,” the spokesman added. “We hope that will continue to increase as more people are aware of the tool and new destinations and data types are added.”
Click to expand...

guest · Sep 3, 2020

Facebook’s photo porting tool adds support for Dropbox and Koofr
September 3, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/03/facebooks-photo-porting-tool-adds-support-for-dropbox-and-koofr/

Facebook’s photo and video portability tool has added support for two more third party services for users to send data via encrypted transfer — namely: cloud storage providers Dropbox and (EU-based) Koofr.
The tech giant debuted the photo porting tool in December last year, initially offering users in its EU HQ location of Ireland the ability to port their media direct to Google Photos, before going on to open up access in more markets. It completed a global rollout of that first offering in June.

Facebook users in all its markets now have three options to choose from if they want to transfer Facebook photos and videos elsewhere. A company spokesman confirmed support for other (unnamed) services is also in the works, telling us: “There will be more partnership announcements in the coming months.”
Click to expand...

The transfer tool is based on code developed via Facebook’s participation in the Data Transfer Project — a collaborative effort started last year, with backing from other tech giants including Apple, Google, Microsoft and Twitter.

The encrypted transfers work from both the desktop version of Facebook or its mobile app.
For now, though, Facebook only supports direct, encrypted transfers for photos and videos uploaded to Facebook.
Click to expand...

When we asked Facebook about bringing the photo porting tool to Instagram, a spokesman told us: “Facebook have prioritised portability tools on Facebook at the moment but look forward to exploring expansion to the other apps in the future.”
Click to expand...

Facebook: Expanding Our Photo and Video Transfer Tool to Dropbox and Koofr

guest · Aug 9, 2021

Facebook adds Photobucket and Google Calendar to its data portability options
Users can now export events data to their calendar.
August 9, 2021
https://www.engadget.com/facebook-data-transfer-photobucket-google-calendar-105303219.html

Facebook has today announced that it has added two new destinations for when you want to move your data from the social network.

In a blog post, the company said that users will be able to move their images to Photobucket and event listings to Google Calendar. Product Manager Hadi Michel said that the tool has been “completely rebuilt” to be “simpler and more intuitive,” giving people more clarity on what they can share to which platforms. In addition, users can now launch multiple transfers, with better fine-grain control on what they’re choosing to export in any one transfer.

This is yet another feature piled on to the Data Transfer Project, an open-source project developed by Google, Facebook and Microsoft.
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter partner for ambitious new data project

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter partner for ambitious new data project

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

guest Guest

Useful Searches