Facebook Posts and Notes can Now be Transferred to Google Docs, Blogger and WordPress
Facebook is now letting its users manage their on-platform data in a better way by allowing them to transfer their Facebook posts and notes to Google notes, Blogger and WordPress.
As a footstep in its broader data portability initiative, Facebook had allowed the transfer of Facebook photos and videos to Dropbox and Koofr last September. Users were able to transfer their Facebook data to Backblaze, Dropbox, Google Photos, and Koofr using the tool. The tool is now renamed by Facebook as “Transfer your information”.This new feature will allow the users to transfer the data across multiple platforms and download them later when needed. This will let the users save a lot of data. To access this new feature, go to Settings & Privacy and then click on settings. There you can find an option called “Your Facebook Information”. Under this, you can find the new feature “Transfer a Copy of Your Information”. The users will be asked to renter their password during this process, to keep the data transfer encrypted. After that, you can select your destination platform (Google notes/ Blogger / WordPress) The process of transfer has been given a new overview by Facebook.
The process is very simple as it contains a series of prompts for guidance. The users should note that only the posts and notes are transferable. The comments will not be transferred as it might lead to legal problems.
According to the reports, Facebook is looking forward to building a newsletter platform of its own. The promotion of transfer of text-based content could indicate that. Earlier Facebook data portability was not an option for its users. Facebook was criticized for keeping the users locked into its network. This prevented other social media platforms from growing. Facebook responded by starting a new program called the data transfer project, solely focusing on sharing Facebook data across other platforms. Even though it is a slow process, it has kicked off well and was well received. As the data portability initiative is progressing, the regulations and protocols regarding the matter are still uncertain. Facebook says it is looking for an external agreement regarding content ownership and how the users can retrieve and reuse the data. According to the reports, after the successful collaboration with Google notes, Blogger and WordPress, Facebook is going to continue looking for new partners for transporting data. The collaboration of social networks will certainly help the users a lot. Facebook is also seeking firm regulations which clarify which data is to be transported and who is responsible for the data security once the transfer is done.
A few days before a massive data breach occurred in which the personal information of about 533 million users was leaked. The personal data included full names, phone numbers location, etc. The hackers could use this data for impersonation and commit fraud. Facebook was scrutinized for the failure in security. This is not the first time Facebook security has been breached. The data transfer across platforms could further make personal information more vulnerable to theft. Facebook had already called on the regulators to establish clearer rules in the whitepaper they had earlier published. It mentions the challenges of data portability. Facebook is ready to let its users transfer the data across multiple platforms, but it is not as easy as it sounds. There are a lot of hurdles and barriers to cross for this to happen.
According to Facebook, albeit there are laws about data transfer such as GDPA and CCPA, they are not transparent enough and companies and people would require more guidance to put those rules to practice.As our online activities are increasing by the day, data ownership and access are becoming a more significant concern. As online works and activities are increasing during this pandemic period, regulators should make sure that content sharing across platforms is well within the laws. Facebook is trying to make the laws regarding content sharing across the platforms more transparent and thus making digital data available for the users.
