Facebook’s Tool Allows You to Transfer Photos and Videos to Rival Services
Facebook is releasing a out a new tool that allows users in the US and Canada to transfer their photos and videos to Google Photos.
The tool is available in your Facebook settings section, under the “Your Facebook Information” tab. There you’ll find the option to transfer your photos and videos. You’ll need to connect your Google account before you can transfer your files.
The function has already been launched in several countries including in Europe and Latin America. It is part of the Data Transfer Project, with Facebook vowing to expand the tool to more countries in early 2020. Data Transfer Project (DTP) is a collaboration of organizations committed to building a common framework with open-source code that can connect any two online service providers, enabling a direct, user initiated portability of data between the two platforms.
Once the tool rolls out globally later this year, Facebook said that “people will also be able to transfer photos to Microsoft, Apple, Twitter, and other companies that join the Data Transfer Program.”
The tool allows the social media company to give users more control over their data and respond to U.S. regulators and lawmakers who are investigating its competitive practices and allegations it has stifled competition.
Data portability is also a requirement under Europe’s privacy law called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California’s privacy law called the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA).