I just read a very interesting post about data portability on Mashable.

In short the author argues, that data portability is boring because:

• the average internet user probably isn’t active in many web 2.0 sites.
• the average internet user probably doesn’t want to take his friends along every web 2.0 service he signs up for.
• what rights do users have to control where shared data goes?

So he says, that there is actually no demand for data portability.

I can see his point and I actually agree completely. Data portability is probably referring to extremely active users.

Moral Data Portability

The way I have understood data portability, it is about data. You can take your facebook friends and put them on kaioo. You then use kaioo as your platform, while not losing contact with your facebook friends.

So I see a moral side of data portability. If I want to move my data/friends from one site to another I want to be able to. It is not only about who owns the data, it is also about not monopolizing your network.
Data portability gives you the option to decide which platform suits you best. This doesn’t necessarily mean being active in 10 different social networks. It just means choosing how you communicate with your friends in the community you are in.

I believe that has a value, which every average user could understand.

Reaching the average user is another subject. Data portability must extend to data usability too. The process of moving your contacts from one network to another must become as easy as signing up.
That’s where data portability might lose the game.