From This Collection

The Data Economy: Data-fueled politics

Apr 13, 2018
As the data economy grew, politicians took notice — and took your information.
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and Senate Judiciary Committee  about Facebook on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on April 10.
JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

The Data Economy: Policy (or lack thereof)

Apr 12, 2018
The U.S. has few policies around privacy and data. That's great, until it's bad.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on April 11, 2018 in Washington, D.C. This is the second day of testimony before Congress by Zuckerberg, 33, after it was reported that 87 million Facebook users had their personal information harvested by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm linked to the Trump campaign.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The Data Economy: The role of advertising

Apr 11, 2018
The web is what it is because of advertising, and advertising runs on one thing: data.
An advertisement for San Jose International Airport suggests to users to 'like' the airport's Facebook page. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/GettyImages)

The Data Economy: Introduction

Apr 10, 2018
Exploring how privacy, policy, advertising and politics led to a data crisis.
A mobile phone screen displays the icons for the social networking apps Facebook and Twitter, taken in Manchester, England on March 22, 2018. 
OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images

The Data Economy: How we gave up on privacy

Apr 10, 2018
We've ignored the steady erosion of our online privacy, but maybe no longer.
In this photo illustration, the logo of the multi-faceted internet giant Google is reflected in the eye of a woman looking at a computer screen, April 13, 2006 in London, England.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images