Data portability on the Web
Data portability has of-late become a serious issue on the web. Ownership of data has many caveats attached with it – often those that the creators of the data, i.e. the users are not aware of.
The issue came to light recently when Plaxo, a service that lets users maintain online contact information was involved in testing a service that lets a user export his contacts information from Facebook.
The privacy concerns apart, I feel it is in the interest of users to have some sort of service that allows porting data across services. But the contentious issue is around sharing the very repositories that make the service appealing to marketers.
In this regard, the walled garden approach to online activity is akin to the proprietary code issue for software. The data portability folks are for services that ensure that users return to sites. And this makes sense since the onus is on companies to develop great services that make users visit regularly.
The Data portability Workgroup that got formed recently has received representation from major bigwigs in the online space. While the issues await to be sorted out, its good that the best things for the user are being worked out.
Its great that the general consensus is around not trapping user data. Lets hope that the conditions get better. Also, the data portability issue is one that affects virtually all the online assets that individuals maintain.
