Lately Tim Cook the CEO of Apple has been using the term ‘data-industial complex’ such as in this article ‘Tim Cook on Why It’s Time to Fight the “Data-Industrial Complex”‘. This is of course a parallel to the ‘military-industrial complex’ and calls up all sorts of influence and lobbyist games, not necessarily for the greater good.
While Tim Cook is using this term in a way to market Apple’s privacy initiatives, it is useful to comment how relevant this parallel with the ‘military-industrial complex’ really is. Wikipedia defines the latter as “an informal alliance between a nation’s military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy“.
While the data industry certainly creates much value and not necessarily in the best interest of citizens, the alliance with government is more uncertain in particular in view the recent attempts to try to limit the power of major players and anti-trust cases. However, there is certainly an alliance with some powerful political forces and much lobbying to defend data-centric company positions.
In a way this terminology is quite adequate to name a powerful social and political force, in another the analogy has its limits in particular when it is used by Apple CEO, a company that also greatly benefits from user data. Still it reminds us that data management is indeed an industry, with powerful and well resourced players that may use all possible means to defend their power.
