I could write a better reply, but I'm tired. Sorry if I articulate this poorly. One funny problem with a society based overly on data is that we start deciding

I could write a better reply, but I'm tired. Sorry if I articulate this poorly. One funny problem with a society based overly on data is that we start deciding things simply by how we analyze the data. Trends become self reinforcing to an extreme and new trends seem more unlikely to occur (because they don't match our models). (IANAE; just a decent metaphor) In algorithmic finance, one way of determining if a stock will do well in the future is if it was doing well in the past -- consistently (momentum portfolio management). Makes sense. These stocks then do better because algorithms then invest in them. As a human, I have a tendency to fuck shit up every now and again. The government may take pity on me, but if I'm looking for a job it's fairly natural to want to optimize for the best employee possible -- based on existing datapoints. We do this already of course, but it's fairly well known what is considered the most significant stuff and what's going to be on display in the future. (Notice how it already influences us to a great extent...) Then there's a balance of power. In open source most people can make it to a position of power in a project with some elbow grease. We don't always have the luxury of opportunity for power in real life. Also information isn't going to be public domain; somebody has control over it. I'll give a good reason right now: storing and processing that information takes a fuckton of resources; not to mention it's incredibly valuable. Ultimately sacrificing privacy is giving up a piece of the individuals power for unknown or questionable results.