Data Transparency: Concerns and Prospects [Point of View]

The question of “how far” technologies and business models of the web should go into collecting personal data of unassuming, or at best moderately informed citizens, appears to be one of the most timely questions of our times. Indeed, whenever we read a news article, “like” a page on a social network, or “check in” to a popular spot, our digital trace collected, processed, fused, and traded among myriads of tracking, analytics, advertising, and marketing companies becomes an ever more accurate descriptor of our lives, our beliefs, our desires, our likes and dislikes. The resulting revenue from marketing and advertising activities driven by the digital traces of millions of people is what funds the free online services we have come to rely upon.