Microsoft Joining DataPortability.org
Chris Saad, Chairman of the Data Portability Working Group, confirmed to me this morning that Microsoft's David Treadwell, a VP at Windows Live, will be joining the organization. Microsoft is expected to make a formal announcement in the coming days.
Context & Ripple Effects
DataPortability.org had already gained momentum when Google and Facebook joined the group on January 8. A subsequent primer on data portability helped frame the issue for a broader web audience.
Microsoft’s participation through Windows Live VP David Treadwell brings a major platform operator into the working group, making the effort less narrowly associated with the first wave of social-web participants.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gains a seat in the Data Portability Working Group’s discussions, giving Windows Live a direct role in shaping the group’s approach to moving user data.
- The working group gains backing from another large consumer platform, strengthening its claim to represent cross-service data portability rather than a single company’s policy.
Second-order effects
- Google and Facebook must engage with a group that includes a major platform rival, raising the value of shared approaches over company-specific data-transfer mechanisms.
- Developers building around Windows Live face a clearer prospect that portability expectations will extend across major web platforms, not only among social-network participants.
Third-order effects
- If major platforms continue joining the same forum, data portability is likely to shift from a product differentiator toward an interoperability baseline negotiated among competing services.
The trend: Large consumer platforms are beginning to treat user-data portability as a shared interoperability issue, even while competing for the services built around that data.