Currently, if you’re deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem, you likely have a huge range of data stored on iCloud – contacts, messages, calendars, photos, videos, mail, notes, documents, device backups, and more. Moving data from iCloud to a different cloud service (because of a price increase, say) is non-trivial, and that’s something a new law aims to change.
While Apple is committed to the principle of data portability, it doesn’t yet go out of its way to make the process easy for non-techy users …
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Data portability is about freedom of choice
Currently, a key aim of tech companies is to persuade us to use their apps and services, and then to stick with them. The longer we use a particular service, the harder it can be to switch to a rival.
Social media is a good example, where we may have hundreds of thousands of posts, photos, videos – and an extensive network of friends. Starting again with a different social network can be a daunting prospect, which gives established companies a significant advantage over emerging ones.
The idea behind data portability is that consumers should be free to move all their online data from one service to another, as quickly and as easily as possible. This is why Facebook, for example, had to launch tools to download and transfer your data.
New EU law will expand choice, protect privacy
The European Union has been introducing a range of laws designed to curb the powers of big tech. This includes things like the Digital Markets Act, which may require Apple to allow third-party app stores, in order to give consumers more choice.
Reuters reports that an outline agreement has now been reached on the latest of these, simply known as the Data Act.
EU countries and EU lawmakers on Tuesday agreed on rules that govern how Big Tech and other companies use European consumer and corporate data […]
The Act makes it easier to switch to other providers of data processing services, introduces safeguards against unlawful data transfer by cloud service providers and provides for the development of interoperability standards for data to be reused between sectors.
Moving data from iCloud a likely focus
The new law will affect a wide range of tech companies, with Apple almost certainly included. The ease of moving data from iCloud is likely to be one focus.
While there are methods to transfer some of this data to other cloud services – like moving your photos from iCloud to Google Photos, for example – it would be no trivial process to move all your data to a different cloud services provider.
Apple does support the principle of data portability, and is one of the founders of the Data Transfer Initiative (alongside Meta and Google). However, it’s still a techy business.
The new law is likely to require a much slicker process, which makes it as simple as a consumer tapping a button to move all their iCloud data to say Dropbox or Google Drive.
Privacy is also a key requirement
In addition to making it easier for consumers to choose where their data is stored, the upcoming law will give you and I greater say on what data tech giants can use.
For example, if you have smart home products that communicate to a server owned by the brand that makes it, you will be able to choose what data is shared, and how it can be used by the company.
As with all EU legislation, the process of passing it is a time-consuming one, with many stages to complete, so don’t expect it to take effect any time soon. It’s likely to take at least two years before the Data Act becomes law and applies to Apple and others.
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