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The global race for governing data
Data have played a very important role in shaping the history of humankind. In ancient civilisations, data were memorised. However, not all data could be easily remembered, nor was its accuracy guaranteed. Further, data would be available only so long as the person who possessed it was alive. With the invention of scripts, data were recorded in writing and enjoyed a relatively longer life. Still, the processing of data required humans to read and comprehend data, analyse it by drawing on their experience and intuition, and then take decisions based on their analysis.
Electronic formatting of data started with the advent of computers in the twentieth century. However, the volume of electronic data was still much less compared to the total data created and stored by humankind.
The twenty-first century has changed the process of creating and storing data. With advancements in technology, the data collection process has been expanding to a wide range of areas. The increased use of electronic sensors has been fuelling the data collection process and increasing data volumes exponentially. The increased capacity and lower costs offered by cloud platforms have not only made it easier to store large amounts of data but to also store it for longer periods of time.
The computational power of machines has been increasing
exponentially too. This has enabled algorithms to process data—an activity that used to be an exclusive capability of the human brain. Algorithms have started processing data for creating better insights on a variety of subjects such as business, human health, and even social and political affairs. Such insights have started augmenting human capabilities to a great extent. For example, business leaders of leading organisations rely on insights created by algorithms, along with their own intuition and experience. However, at times, their decisions are entirely based on insights created by algorithms.
With the advent of technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, algorithms have further developed their ability to take decisions. Today, certain decisions such as trading in the stock market are taken by algorithms instead of human traders. Algorithmic trading in many developed stock exchanges contributes significant volume and liquidity to their operations. With such decision-making capabilities, algorithms have a chance to outperform human brains in several areas of business and society in this century.
The twenty first century is going to be the century of data ownership. All powerful algorithms require the support of data to become cognitive substitutes to human brains. Modern companies understand this very well and hence they always attempt to collect and store data from all possible sources. The volume of data in their custody will grow exponentially in the coming years.
Apart from the growth in volume, the diversity of data is also set to grow. Most data stored today includes identity information about people, their commercial activities such as bank trans-
actions and e-commerce purchases, and their activities on the internet. Increasingly, data about human health parameters such as blood pressure, heartbeat, eye movement, body temperature and brain signals will be generated by multiple devices and will get stored digitally in the cloud. For example, smart watches col-lea users' biological information like heartbeat, walking speed and walking route, and store it on the cloud, which is owned by commercial organisations. The National Identity Registration Wing (NID) of the Election Commission of Bangladesh col-leas fingerprints of citizens for issuing national identity cards. Telecom companies in Bangladesh too collect fingerprints of their subscribers as part of registration. Responsible management of personal and biological data will become a primary responsibility of these data-
collecting organisations.
The coming years will witness a rise in regulators governing the ownership of data. The General Data Proteaion Regulation (GDPR) drafted by the European Union (EU) has been one of the first attempts to regulate data ownership of individuals residing in the EU. The regulation has tried to recognise individuals as owners of their personal data and mandated that corporations abide by this philosophy. Other regulators are expected to catch up with this trend to cover their geographic and political jurisdictions. In faa, there may be an unspoken race among regulators to govern data ownership.
Traditionally, regulators used to regulate land, labour and capital-related aaivities within their operating boundaries, such as their countries or regions. While they collaborate among themselves for better effective-
ness, their authority to impose rules remains limited within their operating boundaries. Data col-leaion, storage and processing don't tend to follow any geographic or political boundary. Imposing the ownership rights of data around the world will require a new kind of governing skills. Regulators of data will need to upgrade themselves to address such governing needs.
The other question will be regarding the utility of data while in the owner's possession. A person's biological data would make little sense to him or her unless a powerful algorithm processes that data to generate insights about the individual's health, persona and behavioural charaaeristics. A healthcare provider could prescribe a healthier lifestyle, medicines or treatment for individuals by processing their personal data using algorithms. However, the same could be used for commercial gains by compromising individual privacy. Regulators of tomorrow need to determine how to govern the usage of data.
Government healthcare agencies today mandate certain actions such as vaccination to children to improve the health of the national population. These agencies may mandate the contribution of personal biological data to serve the national interest in the future. This data will require protection from improper usage driven by vested interests. Regulators of tomorrow need to address this too.
Governing the ownership of data will become an important task for regulators worldwide. Early adopters will be able to protea their commercial and social interests, and will catalyse technology-led economic growth in the coming years.
The writer is a partner at PwC. The views expressed here are personal.