It’s become a popular talking point to list all the risks of data collection, whether it be privacy and surveillance or the lack of transparency that can come with data ownership. But as Gillian Diebold writes for InsideSources, rather than stay bogged down in the potential risks, it’s time to consider how a lack of data collection about some individuals and communities can negatively affect their quality of life.
In today’s digital economy, one significant barrier to opportunity is the data divide, the gaps between the data haves and the data have-nots, and the social and economic inequalities resulting from this lack of data collection and use.
Closing the data divide needs to be a policy priority in the United States to drive robust and equitable growth in the digital economy. Data has become invaluable in today’s economy, where the extent to which individuals and communities can collect data and put it to productive use helps determine everything from health outcomes to public safety and economic growth.
Read the op-ed.
