Facebook launches data portability tool to allow users to transfer photos and videos to Google Photos

Embracing the notion of data portability, Facebook has launched a new tool that lets users transfer their photos and videos from Facebook to other online services.

The social network is kicking things off by making it possible to transfer data from Facebook to Google Photos. It comes as part of Facebook's participation in the open-source Data Transfer Project and the ability to transfer to other services will be added soon.

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The release of the photo transfer tool comes after Facebook published a white paper into data portability. Users in Ireland get to try out the tool first, but a global rollout is planned for 2020. Facebook does not reveal which other services it plans to integrate into the transfer tool, but stresses that privacy will always be a focus.

Announcing the launch of the tool, Facebook says:

The photo transfer tool we're starting to roll out today is based on code developed through our participation in the open-source Data Transfer Project and will first be available to people in Ireland, with worldwide availability planned for the first half of 2020. People can access this new tool in Facebook settings within Your Facebook Information, the same place where you can download your information. We've kept privacy and security as top priorities, so all data transferred will be encrypted and people will be asked to enter their password before a transfer is initiated.

We are currently testing this tool, so we will continue refining it based on feedback from people using it as well as from our conversations with stakeholders.

The photo transfer tool is available here.