Data is the economy's new oil

May 1, 2013
Consumer data is becoming a commodity like oil and, like oil, it needs refineries so that companies can profit from it. Meet the data analytics industry.
A worker assembles a data center module container at the Rittal stand at the 2013 CeBIT technology trade fair the day before the fair opens to visitors on March 4, 2013 in Hanover, Germany.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Apps transform cellphone users into citizen scientists

Jan 7, 2013
Scientists are looking to take advantage of the vast population of cellphone users to collect data.

Cell phone location data raises protection/privacy issues

Oct 1, 2012
California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill over the weekend that would have made it harder for police use cell phones to track suspects' locations. Similar debates about protection versus privacy are happening around the country.

A spike in government surveillance, and wine sales on Amazon

Oct 1, 2012
A new report says the U.S. Justice Department allowed law enforcement agencies to examine more private data in 2010-2011 than in the entire previous decade. And Amazon is planning online wine sales.

AT&T's Mobile Share plan hammers customers for data overages

Jul 19, 2012
AT&T offers customers a simple and flexible world where they don’t get to use as much data as they might like.

Taking control of your personal data

Jun 8, 2012
Your personal data gets mined every time you do a Google search or browse Amazon. But now, some start-ups are trying to let consumers take control of their data -- and get something in return.

Visa cardholders hit by data breach, blackout

Apr 2, 2012
Visa has dropped card processor Global Payments after a big data breach on Friday. It compromised the credit card information of more than a million cardholders.

For public good, not for profit.