Data portability refers to the right granted to individuals to access and transfer their personal data between services, as enshrined in modern data protection laws such as the GDPR. Advocates argue that data portability enhances consumer choice and fosters competition by making it easier to switch providers, thus reducing service provider lock-in.
Just as number portability empowered consumers to switch mobile providers without losing their phone number, data portability allows users to move their digital history, preferences, and identity between digital services. However these benefits come with significant risks. Poorly implemented systems and weak controls could allow fraudsters to impersonate users and extract sensitive data. Cybercriminals may spoof new extraction requests or intercept poorly secured transfers, turning a consumer-friendly right into a new attack vector.
Businesses acting as data controllers - entities that determine the purposes and means of processing personal data - must implement strong authentication controls to verify the legitimacy of requests before releasing information, encrypt data in transit to protect against interception, and ensure that users are aware of the risks involved.
Beyond security, there are also questions of liability and compliance: if a user’s data is misused after a transfer, who is responsible - the original data controller, the recipient, or the individual? Regulators must tread carefully, ensuring portability rights do not inadvertently weaken privacy protections. If portability rules are too lax, they may expose personal data to fraud and misuse; if too strict, they risk reinforcing market dominance by making data transfers impractical for non-technical users.
Striking the right balance between convenience, competition, and security will determine whether data portability strengthens consumer rights or creates unintended vulnerabilities.