The world's most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data

Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants that deal in data, the oil of the digital era. Far from gouging consumers, many of their services are free (users pay, in effect, by handing over yet more data). Technology giants have always benefited from network effects: the more users Facebook signs up, the more attractive signing up becomes for others. They could also mandate the sharing of certain kinds of data, with users' consent--an approach Europe is taking in financial services by requiring banks to make customers' data accessible to third parties.