Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter Launch the Data Transfer Project (venturebeat.com)

Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter have teamed up for a new open source project that strives to make it easier to transfer your data between online services. From a report: The Data Transfer Project (DTP) was officially founded last year, and there have been whisperings about it on the likes of GitHub, but the initiative was officially unveiled today with its first four members. The DTP is actively seeking other members too. The ultimate aim of the Data Transfer Project is to improve data portability, allowing users to not only download their data but transfer it directly to any other service.

Comments

This will be awesome for data theft

[Bookwyrm]

Now, when there is a security breach, there will be one standard format of personal data for criminal and intelligence agencies to process. This will streamline the process of mass identity theft and dissident profiling and improve efficiency.

The new DTP standard will no doubt include a recommended machine learning front-end to easily allow organizations to slurp up people's information in a standardized way, correlate identities across different services, and target them with advertising, thus improving advertising revenue. When users allow the 'share my data with 3rd parties' option, now there will be a standard format for the data to be shared, allowing a greater proliferation of services ready to consume it.

(Yes, this is mild sarcasm.)

Re:No thanks

[houghi]

We have noted your motivation and it is added to your data sheet and shared with all members.

Just so you know, motivation levels go from 1 to 5 and they are as follows
5) I happily agree
4) I agree with a smile
3) I agree
2) I reluctantly agree
1) I resent that I have no option and agree

Please state your choice in the sharing of your data. Your choice is important to us.(tm)

No

[Actually, I do RTFA]

This is four competitors who each hold siloed data about their members trying to create a giant datapool, where the each volunteer information into it and then pull information out. So all of them can serve more targetted ads. It's the admission of these four companies that they're not competing on selling ads on third party sites (Google pretty much owns that), they're selling ads on their own. Which means they all get better ad targeting and higher payouts.