Facebook now allows you to export all your pictures to Google Photos

Now, however, Facebook is building on "the principle of data portability, which gives people control and choice while also encouraging innovation".

In an attempt to get the so-called Data Transfer Project moving, Facebook is now making it easier for users to transfer all their pictures from their Facebook profile to Google Photos.

Social media companies including Facebook and Alphabet's Google have come under scrutiny on data privacy issues, fueled by Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal in which personal data were harvested from millions of users without their consent.

Facebook has allowed members to download their data since 2010.

The social giant posted a buff PR piece that says it is building on the decade-old project to allow users offloading of their information from Facebook, whether because they made a decision to close their account, or for backup purposes. The tool is then expected to roll out to users in the rest of the world sometime in the first half of 2020.

"We want to build practical portability solutions people can trust and use effectively", said Mr Sattterfield.

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

"That's why we're developing new products that take into account the feedback we've received and will help drive data portability policies forward by giving people and experts a tool to assess".

'That new importer can also be contributed back to the open source project, thereby allowing other companies to export to that new service, as well, with no additional technical work'.