Common across the ancient folklore of many different cultures is this concept that: If you have intimate knowledge about something (or someone), like their "True Name" for example, then you have power over that thing. That's why our ancestors were reluctant to share information with strangers or others outside their family or tribe. The same can be said for personal data in the modern world. Using mass media and various reward systems, we've been taught to share information about ourselves, and now the political and economic elite are exploiting that data to manipulate our daily lives so as to maintain power or channel the flow of wealth.

Just like there are many lawyers who are critical of the legal system and many doctors who question conventional medicine, we in the data community should resist to urge to jump on the Big Data and Internet Everywhere bandwagon. We need to stop seeing technology as just shiny new toys that can entertain and make us money, and instead start seeing the big picture. You know, if the public should wake up one morning and come to the conclusion that databases are evil, then suddenly we'll be perceived as the bad guys too. If we don't self police our industry and kick the bad priests out of the temple, then people will lose respect for our profession.