Mashable posted this brief (less than two minute) video with a simplified explanation of data portability.
DataPortability – Connect, Control, Share, Remix from Smashcut Media on Vimeo.
The site also has a link to a longer written explanation from October about apml (attention profiling markup language) by Mark Hopkins, who says
The concept of APML is that it allows you to share your “attention profile” data with other users, organisations or programs in the same way you might share your OPML file with someone. The most compelling reason I can gather why the internet world as a whole needs to line up behind the concept of APML because companies are already gathering so much data that used to be considered private and sacred, so we all need to get out in front of it now and define the process of gathering that information, and attempt – as users – to control a bit of that.
I don’t agree with the Mashable contention that this is “a detailed (and a bit technical) explanation” of data portability. APML is just one aspect of data portability, and (in my opinion) less important than portable identity and social graph. Hopkins is writing about the use of APML for personalization, and I agree with some of the issues he raises.
I’d like to see a better explanation of data portability than I’ve seen so far… maybe I’ll write one, myself.
