Data and information as property

Digital technologists concern themselves with data - conventional representations of facts or ideas - and with machines for storing, transforming, and transmitting it. Although computing professionals also concern themselves with digital technology, they focus primarily on people and information-the meaning that people give to data. The use of data to convey information is vitally important to our social systems. This is underlined by recent research showing that dogs are much more able to get meaning from data than chimpanzees, which probably explains why dogs make better pets. The sharing of meaning has been the foundation of social development. The different data technologies have been used both to empower and to constrain members of our society as technology and society have evolved together. Computing professionals should thus always be sensitive to the social uses of data and information. They should also be alert to legal developments related to using data and to digital technology´s role in producing data.