Data - The Crude Oil of today's Digital Age
The World’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data. Data - The Crude Oil of today’s digital age, in which every individual, through Internet activity, leaves a footprint of personal information, which is controlled by others. In fact, just like oil in the past century, data is now the most valuable resource in the world - an engine of growth & change.
In 2017, the Economist published a widely referenced article claiming that oil had been replaced as the world’s most valuable resource by data - specifically, data captured from users by tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. The Economist painted a bleak picture of a future where the Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google monoliths have so much data at their fingertips that they dominate the global “data economy”. These giants vacuum up vast troves of data that help build a digital profile of every individual, including the person’s preferences, foibles and secrets. Data collection can reveal as much about a person as government surveillance, if not more.
Today’s “data brokers” are financially incentivised to collect and monetise personal data of people all over the world. The collected data, however, is used not just for business purposes. Nor does it stay in the private sector alone. Thanks to Edward Snowden and other revelations, we know that the United States government employs several tools to acquire data from the Internet Giants. And through its National Security Agency, it directly accesses the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and others. In fact, the 2015 US Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act has essentially legalised all forms of government and corporate spying. This serves as a reminder that the Internet, although a major boon that we cannot live without, facilitates surveillance.
It is paradoxical that those in India who raised a hullabaloo about how the digital-identity Aadhaar System threatens privacy, are mute on the larger and more fundamental issue - the monopolistic control of the most powerful tech companies on the data of all, including Indians. It is as if they believe that Aadhar, aimed at turning parts of India’s data economy into public infrastructure for doling out subsidies and deterring fake identities, is more dangerous than the expansive data vaults of the global tech giants.
More surprisingly, after all these theft and other data processing, these giants earn a huge amount of money from all around the world and that too tax free. Yes, they don’t have to pay taxes anywhere else except US. Recently, France imposed tax on Facebook and other tech companies as a large number of users belong there also and apparently these techies are earning huge from all around the world. On it, the US President “Donald Trump” got angry and said that these companies will pay tax to US only and nowhere else.
Just Imagine, people are spending millions & billions of moneys on Google & Facebook to advertise their product. In Fact, as per data, Last year, 50% of total Digital expense by Indians were on Google & Facebook which is in billions. All this money along with the data went out of the country & that too Tax-Free. And if India tries to impose Tax on these Techies, The US Government pressurize India not to.
Despite approx. 30 Bills passed this Monsoon Session, Can’t Understand, Why has there been no discussion in Parliament on the Personal Data Protection Bill, which seeks to take data back from the global behemoths by granting Indians protection rights and mandating local storage?, even after a report has already been submitted by Committee of Experts under the Chairmanship of Justice B.N. SriKrishna in 2018. It is over a year time now.
In 2017, the Economist published a widely referenced article claiming that oil had been replaced as the world’s most valuable resource by data - specifically, data captured from users by tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. The Economist painted a bleak picture of a future where the Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google monoliths have so much data at their fingertips that they dominate the global “data economy”. These giants vacuum up vast troves of data that help build a digital profile of every individual, including the person’s preferences, foibles and secrets. Data collection can reveal as much about a person as government surveillance, if not more.
Today’s “data brokers” are financially incentivised to collect and monetise personal data of people all over the world. The collected data, however, is used not just for business purposes. Nor does it stay in the private sector alone. Thanks to Edward Snowden and other revelations, we know that the United States government employs several tools to acquire data from the Internet Giants. And through its National Security Agency, it directly accesses the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and others. In fact, the 2015 US Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act has essentially legalised all forms of government and corporate spying. This serves as a reminder that the Internet, although a major boon that we cannot live without, facilitates surveillance.
It is paradoxical that those in India who raised a hullabaloo about how the digital-identity Aadhaar System threatens privacy, are mute on the larger and more fundamental issue - the monopolistic control of the most powerful tech companies on the data of all, including Indians. It is as if they believe that Aadhar, aimed at turning parts of India’s data economy into public infrastructure for doling out subsidies and deterring fake identities, is more dangerous than the expansive data vaults of the global tech giants.
More surprisingly, after all these theft and other data processing, these giants earn a huge amount of money from all around the world and that too tax free. Yes, they don’t have to pay taxes anywhere else except US. Recently, France imposed tax on Facebook and other tech companies as a large number of users belong there also and apparently these techies are earning huge from all around the world. On it, the US President “Donald Trump” got angry and said that these companies will pay tax to US only and nowhere else.
Just Imagine, people are spending millions & billions of moneys on Google & Facebook to advertise their product. In Fact, as per data, Last year, 50% of total Digital expense by Indians were on Google & Facebook which is in billions. All this money along with the data went out of the country & that too Tax-Free. And if India tries to impose Tax on these Techies, The US Government pressurize India not to.
Despite approx. 30 Bills passed this Monsoon Session, Can’t Understand, Why has there been no discussion in Parliament on the Personal Data Protection Bill, which seeks to take data back from the global behemoths by granting Indians protection rights and mandating local storage?, even after a report has already been submitted by Committee of Experts under the Chairmanship of Justice B.N. SriKrishna in 2018. It is over a year time now.
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