Microsoft joins DataPortability

DataPortability has continued moving forward.  Now, word in the tubes
is that Microsoft is joining, and from what I gather, they will be making a way to use their Windows Live
system portable.  Hopefully with OpenID and OpenAuth and etc.

Here is the
original posting from Windows
Live Dev:

I’m pretty excited about the news that
Microsoft is joining Dataportability.org. A lot of the work we’ve been doing at dev.live.com over
the last year has focused on opening up data stored in Windows Live in secure and user-friendly ways. The
Windows Live Contacts control and API, for example, allows users to share their Windows Live Contacts with
other sites. We’re working on more APIs that allow users to move their data around the Web—and
we can’t wait to see how this new effort can help.

Here’s the
official announcement:

“Today Microsoft is announcing that it has joined
DataPortability.org, a group committed to advancing the conversation about the portability, security and
privacy of individuals’ information online.  There are important security and privacy
issues to solve as the internet evolves, and we are committed to being an integral part of the industry
conversation on behalf of our users.

The decision to join DataPortability.org is an
outgrowth of a deeper theme that technology and the internet should be deployed to help people be at the
center of their online worlds, a theme that has begun to permeate our products and services over the past
few years. We believe the logical evolution of the internet is to enable the removal of barriers to provide
integrated, seamless experiences, but to do so in a manner that ensures that users retain full control over
the security and privacy of their information.

Windows Live is focused on providing
tools and a platform to enable these types of seamless experiences.  Windows Live has more than 420
million active Live IDs that work across our services and across partner sites.  Through each
Windows Live advancement we’re making technical investments to ensure users’ information
is available to them in the places they want, even across the networks they use every day.  Windows
Live Writer, Mail, Photo Gallery and Spaces, for example, allow users to get access and publish to the
places they want, even outside Microsoft’s network.  And the Windows Live Platform and
Terms of Use offer a set of APIs and controls that allow for the growth of an ecosystem based on the premise
of user control and portability. 

Microsoft feels strongly that getting the
right balance for data portability, security and privacy is critical for the industry, and doing it well
requires the participation of all the major web services.  We are no stranger to these types of
broad industry dialogues, and the one that is taking shape at DataPortability.org will be very effective in
furthering users’ interests.”