This book could change your worldview about data. Our carelessness in handling data is criminal. Data is collected senselessly, misinterpreted, concealed, misrepresented, and stored or shared unlawfully. However, all of these are minor sins compared to the greatest mistake: to forgo data! Policy-making, social networks, the education system, and the economy all rely on a continuous and reliable flow of data that must be directed into the right channels. Data is the raw material of our modern information society, our anchor in the realm of facts. Through numerous examples—from garden birds to the money market—this book explains how we handle data and what opportunities we have yet to utilize. When we demand too much from them or underestimate their potential. And how data influences us.