Four tech giants, Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft on Friday, teamed up for a new open-source project called the Data Transfer Project (DTP). This project will help billions to manage their data and to move data between platforms.
At this premature stage, the Data Transfer Project will help users of one service to use their data to sign up for additional services with encryption. “Transfer data directly from one service to another, without needing to download and re-upload it.” – In a blog post by Google.
The DTP was founded last year but the official launch took place today with its very first four tech giants as the participants. Moving forward, it seeks to bring more members as well.
The existing version of the system supports data transfer for photos, contacts, e-mails, calendars, and tasks, drawing from publicly available APIs from Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Instagram, SmugMug, and Remember the Milk. With the new initiative, participants hope that the project will grow into a more flexible alternative to conventional APIs.
A white paper as released by the tech giants reads: “The future of portability will need to be more inclusive, flexible, and open.” They hope that this project will build an association between public, concerning product for importing and exporting of data directly.
The new Data Transfer Project aims to improve data portability, allowing users to download their data and transfer it directly to any other service. Transferring of data between any two services can be a complicating task for users because every service is built differently and uses different types of data that may necessitate unique privacy controls and settings.
With the DTP, the four tech giant team is trying to create channels to make it easier to move data from platform to platform. The new initiative looks like a remedy for companies that are reeling from data privacy scandals as particularly for Facebook.
