Data is not oil, no need to hoard it: Facebook’s Nick Clegg

NEW DELHI: US social media major Facebook has called on India to allow free flow of data across borders to discover its true value, urging against “hoarding” it.

“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 surefire prosperity. But this analogy is mistaken,” said Nick Clegg, global head for public policy, Facebook, 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.