[jFriedensreich]

of course they don't but at least in europe we have a data portability law that forces companies to let users take their data with them when they leave. the problem is, there is not a proper entity that can bundle the users interests and lawsuits to kick these corporations ass to give us what we own.

[rswail]

A user's friends/followers graph is not their data. It is about a relationship between two users. Should I be allowed to export my Twitter followers into the "Twatter" system? Should I have to get the permission from each follower that they want to be exported?

Who "owns" that relationship? The knowledge of that relationship is necessary for Twitter to run its business, because it has to submit a user's posts to their followers' feeds.

But if I leave Twitter, under GDPR I can ask/make them delete that relationship ("right to be forgotten") but I doubt I can demand that I'm allowed to take a follower's PII, like their Twitter handle, with me to another service.

[mikestaub]

I disagree. The social graph is the digital property of the user. If I export my twitter data and save it to my hard drive, Twitter cannot enforce the right to be forgotten. They are only expected to delete the user's data on servers they control.

[jFriedensreich]

so your notebook where you write down contacts is not yours? this does not make sense. i own everything about me also who i follow and who follows me.