A new tool initially being rolled out to select Facebook users brings the ability to transfer Facebook photos directly to Google Photos, The Verge is reporting. The tool, which will be available to Facebook users worldwide early next year, is based on code developed through Facebook’s participation in the open-source Data Transfer Project.
“For almost a decade, we’ve enabled people to download their information from Facebook,” said Steve Satterfield, director of privacy and public policy at Facebook. Satterfield noted that while the new photo transfer tool currently only supports Google Photos, Facebook may choose to include other services in the future as well.
In addition to Facebook, the Data Transfer Project also includes participants like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter.
This tool will be useful for Google Photos users that don’t automatically backup pictures from their phones. If you’re a Facebook and Google Photos user who does backup photos, then it’s likely that most photos posted to the social network are already backed up on Google’s service.
The social networking giant is currently testing the tool in Ireland and will refine it based on user feedback.
