Transparent

Social data is a constant and an uncontainable resource in the twenty-first century. In Transparent author Andreas Weigend argues that "data is the new oil" in that it needs to be refined to do anything but, once refined, it can do quite a bit, in much the same way that refined oil gives rise to gasoline, plastic, and even beauty products. The big difference, as Weigend sees it, is that too many of those benefits remained locked up in corporations like Amazon who refine the data, and too few of the benefits actually flow back to the sources of it (that is, us). Transparent is a battle cry to both get the companies to start providing refined data back to their customers and to get individuals to become more sanguine about the fact that they are giving up data (and to become more demanding about getting the rewards of sharing in return). Such transparency can pay enormous dividends such as helping to make decisions, optimize one's finances and health, and improve community safety. Andreas Weigend is a physicist, former chief data scientist at Amazon, and the director of the Social Data Lab. He is the author of three technical volumes and more than 100 papers. Robin Dennis is currently a freelancer, with specialties in computers and technology, business and finance, and science.