We've seen a number of hosting providers in the digital archive space try to hold on to customers by making migration impossible without loss of data. When the data belongs to the customer this is an underhanded tactic and shows the desperation some organizations will go to to hang on to their user base.

This poisons the entire archive hosting market which is struggling to gain legitimacy. It also doesn't work but it can mean the loss of important information. And the ongoing costs involved in restoring lost information takes away investment in more productive tools and technologies.

By decentralizing data, organizations and service providers can simply replicate all data. No longer will archived information be a bargaining chip.

https://knowledgearc.io/taking-back-ownership-of-your-data/