3 You and your data

Unequal knowledge about us produces unequal power over us.¹ 

—Soshana Zuboff

Just look at the preceding list of topics. Data touches all of these aspects of life. All of us can benefit from being aware of the importance and impact of data on our daily lives. In addition to being pervasive in our lives, our relationship to data is about to change for the better. That relationship is about to change in ways that will make our data work for us.

Attitudes toward and about data have changed and evolved over the past 60 years, just like many views, orientations, and norms in society. Just think about marijuana and gay marriage. In the past 20 years, these two topics went from being something that you should not talk about in polite company to being legal in most of the United States and in many countries around the world. Times, views, perspectives, and values change, and quickly in some cases. The prevailing societal views on data are about to change in ways that even most experts will not recognize.

3.1 Origins of the internet and World Wide Web

3.2 Current views and attitudes toward data

3.3 Some people don’t have the luxury of thinking about data

3.3.1 People who live in poverty

3.3.2 People who are living at subsistence levels

3.3.3 Reducing poverty and why it matters

3.4 How the general population thinks about data today

3.5 How do you think about data today?

3.5.1 You own your data

3.5.2 Think about how your data is being treated

3.5.3 Think about your children

3.5.4 Worldwide data creation