Do not let fear kill the promise of Big Data

[Commentary] The questions raised by Big Data are of urgent importance to everyone. Privacy is at the heart of democratic modernity, and it must be preserved. The manipulation of the information we share with organisations online, increasingly extensive and sensitive in nature, makes digital processes a question of life (private life, certainly) and, potentially, death. At the same time, Big Data analytics have been shown to have significant potential to benefit the common good: in the fields of health, science, research and security, among other examples. At this moment of high tension about our online information, everyone involved must accept their responsibilities.

We must ensure that fear does not restrain the great promise of Big Data. Digital giants should take a self-regulatory approach — in terms, for example, of security, destruction and anonymisation of data. Now is the time to start, and those with the most influence — global digital companies to begin with — should tackle this problem, which is central to the trust of internet users and, in turn, to the very future of the digital world.

[Lévy is chairman and chief executive of Publicis Groupe]