
The Data Transfer Project - cududa
https://github.com/google/data-transfer-project
======
rdiddly
Dupe -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17574707](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17574707)

I must be pretty naive or I've been working with databases too long, but I
seem to be in the minority on HN that's actually sort of excited about this
project.

~~~
larkeith
As the web matures, I suspect better inter-service compatibility is necessary,
and this potentially sets the stage for that. I'm optimistic for the future
this lays the groundwork for, but am cautious with regards to this project
specifically, simply due to the names involved; hopefully more FOSS leaders
will become involved, or this version will become superseded by a later
framework, as I do not trust the current members to design with sufficient
privacy safeguards.

On a side note, this will likely continue the trend of increasing the barrier
to entry for more of the internet, hurting startups. Though that's dependant
on how the framework is designed.

~~~
d4l3k
I feel like this will actually lower the barrier to entry. Currently there's
no easy way to migrate from the big 4 websites to other providers. If you were
a new startup competitor, having to only implement one import format seems to
be a good thing

~~~
larkeith
That's a really good point! I had been thinking of it in terms of something
else a new service is expected to support before going live, but if they do
support it it definitely should make it easier to get new users. I'd still be
wary of it being overly complex and bloated, but if not it may be a boon in
disguise.

------
0xBA5ED
>We want all individuals across the web to be in control of their data.

...by having us control it for them.

Seriously though, the more they repeat this line the less it convinces me. It
simply isn't in their interest to give people _actual_ control over their
data, so why would they?

~~~
thg
> It simply isn't in their interest to give people _actual_ control over their
> data, so why would they?

GDPR demands it and it's good PR.

~~~
cududa
I think it’s a bit more nuanced - they’re all giving people a full copy of
their data, but you can’t do much with that on say FB> Twitter.

This to me smells like preemptive action against legislation. Sort of the
companies choosing which limb or organ to give up instead of dictated by
legislation

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yumraj
They should add a feature which allows me to delete my data from all the
supported platforms.

~~~
d4l3k
That feature already exists for all the supported platforms.

Google:
[https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/32046?hl=en](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/32046?hl=en)

Twitter: [https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-
dea...](https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-deactivate-
twitter-account)

Microsoft: [https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12412/microsoft-
acc...](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12412/microsoft-account-how-
to-close-account)

Facebook:
[https://m.facebook.com/account/delete](https://m.facebook.com/account/delete)

~~~
sinnoh
Did you read those links? He said to delete the data, not just the accounts.

------
politician
Hey folks, a DTP team member responded to a lot of similar comments in the
other thread from earlier today. Look for posts from bwillard.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17574707](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17574707)

------
joeblau
What data does Microsoft have that one would want to "transfer"?

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d4l3k
The current "data models" appear to be Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Photos and
Tasks. That fits pretty well with the data from Microsoft Office 365/GSuite.
Interestingly enough it doesn't have a model for Tweets/Facebook posts so I'm
not really sure those companies are part of this unless there's something more
planned.

[https://github.com/google/data-transfer-
project/tree/master/...](https://github.com/google/data-transfer-
project/tree/master/portability-types-
transfer/src/main/java/org/datatransferproject/types/transfer/models)

~~~
rvense
Aren't there already perfectly good interchange formats for all these?

~~~
cududa
Formats, yes. But if you want to do a massive migration between g suite and
o365 you’re solution is hire a vendor or write up some annoyingly complicated
script to perform it

------
e9
That looks pretty scary actually. If mishandled, it will enable someone to
steal all of your information from all the platforms.

~~~
d4l3k
I assume it requires credentials for each platform, so it doesn't enable
anything that they wouldn't already have access to if they could log in to
every single one of your accounts.

~~~
c0p
It requires credentials, but with a standard format/protocol it means
extraction is easier for someone who might happen to acquire such credentials
with nefarious intent.

------
lifeisstillgood
Recently the EU laid out the PSD2 - where banks MUST allow third party access
to customers accounts / statements etc.

The data transfer project is a small, glimmer of the same sort of thing - we
own our data, and data providers MUST design themselves around that.

Large data holders cannot live behind walled gardens for ever - specialist
data analysers are going to spring up - some will offer budget planning for my
accounts - others will track my twitter feed letting me know of things of
interest - the news feed will be almost as much interest as my bank account -
but overall, third party data wranglers are a good thing

------
kyleperik
This sounds odd. What's really the incentive for all of them behind this?

~~~
stevenicr
I am guessing self regulation to avoid Cali and Euro style for the people
regulation.

Also our monopolies can be ported easily so there is no need to call us a
monopoly or keep mentioning things like make us a public utility that has to
follow anyone's rules but our own.

Some positive PR in the sea of "they are evil for this and that and that
and..." \- hey we're open.

The GDPR thing has a mandate in it that personal data must be exportable
doesn't it? So, two birds, one stone, add some positive PR.

Just guessing..

Lets hope this doesn't turn out how G and Fb bragged about xmpp or whatever
until they didn't need it any more and then your data and comms stopped being
as interchangeable as it once was.

~~~
tannhaeuser
I think the GDPR mandates that you can view your personal data, but doesn't
require a specific format. I'd expect the motivation for this to be more like
generating growth, or as a token initiative for data exchange standards.

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anonytrary
> The Data Transfer Project makes it easy for people to transfer their data
> between online services. We provide a common framework and ecosystem to
> accept contributions from service providers to enable seamless transfer of
> data into and out of their service.

You use product A and B. You tell B it's OK to import data from A in order to
"improve the quality of services of B" and similarly for A. Now A and B both
have more insight on your personal preferences, so they both win. The user
"wins" because they get "improved quality of services".

~~~
TangoTrotFox
It's not just more insight on your personal preferences. It's the 100%
certainty that one user on two different platforms is the same person. It
enables companies to trade and sell your data behind the scenes with much
higher levels of reliability. For instance imagine there was another
TangoTrotFox on Reddit or whatever, and AI parsing of his statements led to a
strong overlap in self identifying statements, vernacular, etc. You still
couldn't be 100% sure it was the same person and so collating data would not
necessarily be as valuable for advertising companies as it might otherwise be.

And yeah, I completely agree that this is a spot where the user "wins."
Congrats, you get spammed with even more heavily targeted ads, political
engineering, and more. What happy days.

~~~
anonytrary
> It's not just more insight on your personal preferences. It's the 100%
> certainty that one user on two different platforms is the same person.

That's what I was talking about, but thanks for explaining it to anyone who
may have missed the point.

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zouhair
Where is the catch?

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dotcoma
Is this done in the interest of users, or in the interest of the Big Data /
Big Tech military-industrial complex ?

~~~
anonytrary
Probably both -- not only is it more convenient for users to be able to swim
between products, but having normalized and portable data is a godsend to
anyone who needs to do data analysis. I'd imagine much more insight is
possible when you can associate a user's activity on one platform to their
activity on another. Imagine if your IP was shared between services; they'd
know a lot more about you. On the surface, it sounds like a potential work
around to GDPR.

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jaimex2
What are the chances of Apple joining?

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scarface74
What data does Apple keep that would be worth transferring?

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navs
I'd be curious about LinkedIn actually.

~~~
larkeith
LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, so they may already be in.

