The Data Transfer Project aims for Data Portability and Interoperability

Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter joined to announce its participation in The Data Transfer Project (DTP). The project aims to implement a way to transfer data between online services or networking platforms. The newly unveiled project is a year-old open source code and an attempt to achieve data portability. Data portability not just allows users to download their data, but to also transfer it directly to other online services without having to upload it.

The project, thus far, has four aforementioned active partners and is welcoming more collaborators to help create channels to make it easier to move data from one platform to another.

The purpose of this project is to enhance the data portability ecosystem by reducing the infrastructure burden on both the service providers and the consumers. The project code in GitHub involves methodologies and protocols that enable direct service-to-service data transfer with slick engineering work.

The project launched complies with the EU’s GDPR data portability directives which clearly state that online users should be able to easily port their data between different services.

The white paper of the project reads: “Data portability and interoperability are central to innovation… The DTP partners believe that people should use products because they provide unique value and features. If a user wants to switch to another product or service…they should be able to do so easily… allowing users to choose products and services based on choice, rather than being locked in, helps drive innovation and facilitates competition.”