Linkedin, Facebook, Microsoft and other social networks set to share contacts in a safe, secured way

Facebook, Microsoft and other firms announced a new means of transferring contacts among various social networks. Recently, Microsoft and others had joined a group termed DataPortability.org that intends to provide users with greater control over the data they have stored on the Web. The fruits from that concerted effort seem to be coming at a trickle. Also, it’s being done on terms that are set by the firm.

It’s not all that difficult now to invite friends from one social networking site onto another one of your choice. Microsoft though, says that the manner in which it’s done isn’t easy or secure enough. Along with four other social networks, the firm will exchange contacts APIs in a secured manner. Rather than making use of ‘screen scraping’ techniques for ripping the data from the screens that show your friends lists, as is done today, the APIs access back-end data systems.

While that may not seem like a major breakthrough, Microsoft sees this as a small step on the road to effective data portability between various web sites and social networks. “We think that letting users to take their data with them is a truly important commitment, which we wish to make as a company for putting the user at the center of their unique online experience,” John Richards, director of Windows Live Platform, Microsoft, stated in an interview. “This is going to need the industry to be very, very thoughtful around the ability for bringing multiple kinds of data together along with the need for privacy.”

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