Opinion
Data Is the New Sand
Our individual data is just not that valuable. Acknowledging that can guide how we think about its misuse.
The metaphors we use are like a map. They can guide us or lead us astray.
When British mathematician Clive Humby said “Data is the new oil” back in 2006, he meant that data, like oil, must be refined and transformed to make it into useful products and services. Only then does it become valuable. Unfortunately, to too many people the phrase seems to suggest that our personal data is like a gushing oil well on a Texas ranch in 1901 and that we ought to be claiming an ownership stake in the profits flowing from that data.