"Data is the new oil" is a thing people used to say.

You might think that means that it's toxic for human well being, dangerous to hold in any quantity, and absolutely disastrous when there's a leak.

And you'd be right.

But the people saying it don't generally think that, they think of it as meaning data is valuable like money.

A terrible mistake, which leads people and companies hoard the data instead of trying to quickly and safely dispose of it to avoid responsibility for it like they really would if they understood the metaphor.

And thus there are leaks and toxic data spilling all the way through the network.

Perhaps there should be a data-tax. A cost per year for every terabyte companies hold? Use it to fund journalism and the arts. 

 @1d7ca1eb 
A lot of women and men suffer from the illegal use of the male penis.
Should we introduce a tax on the male penis?
Someone with a large male genital organ can cause more damage. He should pay more. 

 @1d7ca1eb did companies go broke or at least took a serious hit over data leaks (where the data leaked hasn’t been the actual money of the company)?