Data portability is an important front in the war for an open internet. A few years ago, it seemed like some major movement was coming, with the joint announcement of the Data Transfer Project from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter — but recently, news of any progress was running thin. That is, until now: the project has morphed into the nonprofit Data Transfer Initiative, with a real team led by new Executive Director (and returning podcast guest) Chris Riley, who joins us on this week's episode to discuss the push to liberate data and make it portable.

The Data Transfer Initiative: https://dtinit.org/

The Techdirt Podcast

The Data Transfer Initiative

Back in April, we were joined on the podcast by Chris Riley, the Executive Director of the new nonprofit Data Transfer Initiative that aimed to promote data portability and empower users to transfer their data from one service to another. Today, the Initiative has released its first annual report, and Chris is back on the podcast for a discussion all about how things are going, and what's on deck for 2024.

Data Transfer Initiative Annual Report 2023 (PDF): https://dtinit.org/assets/DTI-Annual-Report-2023.pdf

The Data Transfer Initiative After One Year

As we've been thinking and writing about the intersection of democracy and technology, especially burgeoning AI technology, we always come back to the core issues of user control and user freedom. Recently, Chris Riley of the Data Transfer Initiative wrote an excellent piece for Tech Policy Press about the need for data portability in personal AI tools. This week, he joins the podcast to discuss why we need to control personal AI data so personal AI cannot control us.

Tech Policy Press article: https://www.techpolicy.press/we-need-to-control-personal-ai-data-so-personal-ai-cannot-control-us/

Why Data Portability Is Crucial For The AI Future

The Techdirt Podcast, hosted by Michael Masnick.

New tracks tagged #data portability