Privacy. Security. Encryption. Protection. Responsibility.

All big words, with many connotations. Unfortunately, the meanings behind the words seem to be dwarfed by one other word: profit. Data brokers and even departments inside various organizations make a lot of money from their data, and I don't expect they'll want to see that stop anytime soon.

So much of our data is being collected, sold, and (arguably) poorly secured. Citizens are complaining and governments are taking some notice. The US Congress has a committee investigating how some of the large data brokers are handling data. The committee compiling the report doesn't have much power, and I'm not convinced that much will change, regardless of the conclusions they reach.

However I do think that those of us that work as data professionals should be aware that we may find ourselves bound by new rules and regulations over time. I wouldn't think anyone would preemptively prepare for more control by changing their systems or processes, but I would expect that data professionals might want to ensure they understand how their data is being handled and secured, just in case anyone asks.