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Data Protection
What is Data Portability?
The right to receive your personal data from a service in a structured, commonly used format, and to transfer it to another service.
Data portability (GDPR Article 20) ensures you're not locked into a service because your data is trapped there.
What You Can Request
- All personal data you provided to the service
- Data in a machine-readable format (JSON, CSV, XML)
- Direct transfer to another service where technically feasible
Examples
- Google Takeout: Export all your Google data
- Facebook: Download Your Information
- Apple: Data and Privacy portal
- Twitter/X: Request your archive
Why It Matters for Privacy
- Reduces vendor lock-in — you can switch to a privacy-respecting alternative
- Forces services to acknowledge your data as yours
- Enables you to see exactly what a service has collected
- Makes the switching cost lower, encouraging competition on privacy
Related Terms
GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation is a comprehensive data protection law in the European Union that gives individuals control over their personal data. It establishes strict requirements for how organizations collect, process, store, and transfer personal information.
Right to Access
A legal right under GDPR and similar laws that allows individuals to request a copy of all personal data an organization holds about them.
Have more questions?
Use our guided flow to get the right next privacy step for Data Portability.
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