Not So Relevant

Standards for Social Network Portability

Over the past couple of months some buzz has been created about Social Network Portability and all it implies. I can’t stress enough that it is important to have control over my own data. I feel uncomfortable that one company - and if you’re active on more than just one social network, there are even more - is collecting very private data about me and is storing it on its servers. I won’t have the chance to export the data to my computer or to another network and it’s even unsure if all data will be deleted once I decide to delete my account.

There are several efforts by some smart people around the world to change this and build portable social networks. Though one might get confused by talk about protocols and formats which could help build those networks. So it’s highly welcome to see a site like dataportability.org. There is not much content there at the moment but it is describing all tools necessary and even assigning functions to them. So if you’re still wondering what’s needed for syndication purposes or user authentication you will find the answers. And you will also notice that all those standards are open. No proprietary stuff that’s owned by just one company.

Hopefully the site will evolve into a comprehensive resource on the topic.

[via notizBlog]

Related posts:

• DiSo: WordPress as a Social Network?
• OpenSocial: Not about Social Network Portability
• Data Portability and Social Networks
• Social Network on Your Mobile Phone
• Data Portability? Let’s Get Rid of It