>> David Deming, The New York Times
Published: 20 Feb 2021 10:46 AM BdST
Updated: 20 Feb 2021 10:46 AM BdST
ocially valuable data can be combined with standards that safeguard individual privacy, an economist says. (Erik Carter/The New York Times)
Governments and technology companies are increasingly collecting vast amounts of personal data, prompting new laws, myriad investigations and calls for stricter regulation to protect privacy.
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Yet despite these issues, economics tells us that society needs more data sharing rather than less, because the benefits of publicly available data often outweigh the costs. Public access to sensitive health records sped up the development of life-saving medical treatments like the messenger-RNA coronavirus vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer. Better economic data could vastly improve policy responses to the next crisis.