Facebook urges India to share data, not hoard it

NEW DELHI: US social media major Facebook has called on India to allow free flow of data across borders to discover its true value, and urged the country to not “hoard” it, saying it’s not a finite commodity like oil which can lead to prosperity in the future due to higher reserves.

“There are many in India and around the world who think of data as the new oil, and that, like oil, having a great reserve of it held within your national boundaries, will lead to sure fire prosperity. But this analogy is mistaken,” Nick Clegg, global head for public policy at Facebook, said at an event on Thursday.

“Data isn’t oil—a finite commodity—to be owned and traded, pumped from the ground and burned in cars and factories. Of course, no analogy is perfect, but a better liquid to liken it to is water, with the global internet like a great borderless ocean of currents and tides,” Clegg added.