Data Portability Workgroup - A Truly Open Web

The Data Portability Workgroup is working for just that, data portability. Wired recently announced that Google, Facebook and Plaxo will be sending representatives to the work group.

If the group is successful, other web sites will be able to use user data on sites like Facebook to populate other websites. This would rapidly increase the mobility of users on the web. Imagine not having to worry about repeatedly filling out profile after profile. Would be great wouldn't it?

The problem is privacy and competition. You can easily see all of the privacy issues from a move like that, but there are also strategic issues. If a site like Facebook lets other sites have their user data, they're just going to use it to compete against them. That puts Facebook in a tough spot. They want to be a part of the Web 2.0 revolution, but at the same time, they don't want to give their competition a running start. What would you do if you were Facebook?