Facebook Scales Up Its User Data Transfer Tool

If I had a dollar for every time I heard “I only still have Facebook because of my photos,” I could probably treat our entire editorial team to coffee.

Now my hypothetical coffee fund might dry up: In June, FB’s entire user base got access to its data portability tool, which allows users to directly transfer their photos and videos to Google Photos.

What’s new: Yesterday, FB announced a significant expansion of the tool. Users can now move their memories over to two additional services: Dropbox and Koofr. (If you’re interested, here’s a step-by-step.)

Policy recap: Data portability is a key tenet of both the EU’s GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act.

• It aims to boost both competition and innovation (think: algorithms that sort and categorize photos more accurately) + give consumers more choice.

The end game: With a move like this, FB is likely hoping to appeal to regulators on both sides of the pond. Not only is data portability a priority for the EU, but stateside, the expansion could help dial back antitrust concerns a wee bit.

• Data portability is also on Big Tech’s to-do list: FB’s tool is based on code from the Data Transfer Project, an open source collaboration between FB, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Twitter.