Data Portability and Control over Social Media Data
This post summarizes the paper “Escaping the Walled Garden? User Perspectives of Control in Data Portability for Social Media,” published in CSCW 2023. [Read the full paper here]
Data portability–the capability to transfer one’s data from one platform to another–is mandated by regulations (e.g., GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California) and has been implemented by major platforms, including Meta and Google. According to the European Commission, the goal of data portability is to enhance individuals’ “control over their personal data,” which will prevent people from being “locked-in” to specific platforms.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of research investigating internet users’ perceptions of data portability in specific contexts, which is important to design systems that live up to data portability’s promise. Social media is a vital context to understand since it is deeply embedded into daily life, and attitudes toward social media data are complex.
Our study addressed this gap through surveys and interviews examining how internet users in the United States view data portability in the context of social media. We asked about their existing perceptions of social media, including the extent to which they currently feel in control of their data. Then, we showed them examples of current approaches to data portability and asked about whether and how data portability could improve the aspects of control that are important to them.
Current feelings about controlling social media data
The first thing we found is that respondents generally felt they have little to no control over their social media data, at least after it is posted. As described by one respondent, “In control of getting it online? Yes. In control of what happens after? No. Absolutely not.” The most common concerns were about how other people can interact with it, including re-sharing and misconstruing one’s posts. To that end, the primary method through which respondents exerted control over their data was by being selective about what they post in the first place. Further, several interview participants described being careful about which content they post to each platform, such as one person who said, “The platforms I use are fairly siloed […] LinkedIn I’ll use for my professional reasons. Facebook predominantly for personal reasons […] And of course, Nextdoor is totally focused on community.”
By contrast, most participants were not particularly concerned about losing access to their data–one of the main problems that data portability can address.
Perceptions of current data portability systems
After viewing representative examples of data portability systems, respondents had generally favorable impressions and most agreed that data portability would make them feel more in control. However, further analysis revealed that the anticipated scope of this increased control tended to be small. Respondents generally said that data portability would make things more convenient but would not dramatically change their behavior. Notably, respondents had mixed opinions about whether data portability would make them likely to join a new platform and overwhelmingly disagreed that it could motivate them to stop using platforms they currently use. In sum, current approaches to data portability came across as a step in the right direction. Still, they did not seem sufficient to fulfill the promise described by the European Commission to “re-balance” the relationship between users and online platforms.
Implications for the future
Participants described multiple dimensions of control that could be impacted by data portability, such as protecting one’s privacy, preserving access to one’s data, and managing contact with social ties. Based on the results, we posed some suggestions for future implementations of data portability.
For example, respondents wanted detailed control over what they transfer to a new platform. Many platforms already include controls for making content public, private, or only visible to specific groups, and data portability systems may leverage these controls (e.g., by choosing to transfer only specific content). However, our results showed that decisions about whether some content is appropriate to post to Platform X do not automatically extend to Platform Y. So, data portability of social media data may demand even more granular visibility controls than most people use within a single platform.
We also discuss some tensions between social media data portability and individual privacy. For example, many respondents were interested in transferring their contacts list if they joined a new platform. However, Facebook restricts this and says it would violate users’ privacy. This presents a tension between usefulness and privacy — Should data portability systems allow users to transfer information about other people? To that end, our paper includes suggestions for coordinating social data portability across groups while protecting the privacy of each individual.
This research identifies both strengths and limitations in current implementations of data portability for social media. We propose future directions, which are timely because current implementations of data portability may define de facto norms that influence later generations. It is our hope that data portability systems can continue to improve in order to give internet users more control over their online experience and data.
Read more in the full paper.
