The Linked Web Storage (LWS) Protocol defines the minimum set of interoperable, HTTP-based interactions that let any conforming application read, write, and manage data that lives outside the application’s own infrastructure. Its purpose is to restore an essential architectural principle of the Web: users control where their data is stored while applications come and go—without breaking links, permissions, or provenance.
Today most Web applications entangle storage, identity, access control, and business logic behind a single origin. Migrating to a new provider or adopting a new application therefore often means abandoning existing data. LWS breaks that coupling. By standardising a small, resource-oriented contract it enables
- portable personal and enterprise data vaults that can move between providers, clouds, or on-premise deployments,
- application innovation decoupled from storage choices,
- consistent security semantics across heterogeneous back-ends, and