“Personal data is the new oil of the Internet and the new
currency of the digital world.” Meglena Kuneva, European
Consumer Commissioner, March 2009 As we move towards a “Web of
the world” in which mobile communications, social technologies
and online connections are bringing people together into one
interconnected network, personal data may soon emerge as “a new
asset class,” according to a fascinating report recently
released by Bain & Company, in collaboration with the World
Economic Forum (WEF PersonalDataNewAsset_Report PDF). Data, Data
Everywhere The amount of data generated by today’s digital
society is astounding. Data is being collected on who we are,
who we know, where we are, where we have been and where we plan
to go. Mining and analyzing this data give us the ability to
understand and even predict where humans focus their attention
and activity at the individual, group and global level, the
report observes. This personal data – digital data created by
and about people – is generating “a new wave