Balancing the risks of Data Portability
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. ...