Forget about data; privacy is the new ”new oil.”

<p>When even Mark Zuckerberg declares that there is a "clear trend" away from data collecting, you know the pendulum is swinging. </p> <p>Data is oil, and so is privacy. </p> <p>Individual privacy should be of concern to investors, if only because it is becoming a trend that is already having an impact on the market. </p> <p>To be sure, some of the world's most successful, profitable, and impactful businesses have grown despite a noticeable lack of privacy. Companies like Google (now Alphabet) and Facebook (now Meta Platforms) leverage the massive amounts of consumer data at their disposal to cherry-pick adverts that encourage you to buy something you don't need but really, really desire. This is made possible by consumers agreeing to give up their privacy in order to submit that data. </p> <p>For a time, few customers seemed to mind, and the market rewarded those businesses. In 2012, Facebook debuted on the Nasdaq with a market valuation of $60 billion, and by last August, it had risen to more than $1 trillion. Google followed a similar path, beginning with a market valuation of $23 billion in 2004 and reaching just shy of $2 trillion late last year. They both accomplished this by monetising user data. </p> <p>In 2017, The Economist declared data to be the most valuable resource in the world, surpassing oil, echoing data scientists' rallying cry that "data is the new oil." Consumers, on the other hand, are starting to notice that their information is being sucked out of them. As a result, such data is becoming more difficult to obtain and use. </p> <p>The paradigm is shifting in favour of greater privacy. </p> <p>No, you should mind your own business. </p> <p>Last month, my colleague (and fave CoinDesk writer) David Z. Morris wrote an excellent post discussing this trend for CoinDesk's Privacy Week. In it, he provided us with quotes such as </p> <p>Tsukuyama remarks, "Your phone isn't listening to you." "What's frightening is that businesses don't have to listen." They can deduce who you're hanging out