There's a strong chance you've recently seen an email or pop-up box offering "some important updates" about the way a social media company or website plans to use your data. Are we about to regain control of our personal information?
In our increasingly connected world, data has come to be seen as something to buy and sell.
Businesses offer personalised goods and services to consumers, raising the possibility of data driving economic growth and even improving wellbeing.
But this optimistic picture about the rise of data science is incomplete.
The scandal involving the improper sharing of the data of 87 million Facebook users with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica made it painfully obvious that data is sometimes shared without our knowledge.
In May, tough new privacy laws are being introduced across Europe, offering EU consumers far greater control over their data and large fines for firms which break the rules.
It is worth pausing to think about how we got to this point.
To begin to understand, we must remember that data can easily be copied, shared and collected from multiple sources.
Whenever we use digital devices - everything from web browsers, to phones, loyalty cards and CCTV cameras - we create data that allows advertisers, insurers, the police and others to understand aspects of our lives.
Only its availability and the ingenuity of its handler limits what it can tell us.
