I’ve been thinking that some kind of certification program hosted by QS would be cool to recognize apps and tracking systems that really allow a user to access their own data. There could be some minimum data export requirement to qualify. For example JEFIT is a great strength exercise tracking program but has little export functionality. The Bodymedia system has a great minute by minute calorie trace on their website but no way to download that data stream. My garmin forerunner 305 will let me save out my heart rate trace to an xml file. It could basically be anything in a raw data stream viewable on the web could be downloaded in a simple csv format. I believe Fitbit data can be downloaded with a premium subscription. While that’s not the best, its still an available option and I think that qualifies. It would also be a good way to spread the word about QS.
I don’t see data export (and sharing) as a simple certifiable feature. But it is something that consumers (and people doing reviews and comparisons!) should pay more attention to. Same goes for data ownership and privacy issues…