 The time of spreadsheets is over. A Google search, a passport scan, a barcode reading in a supermarket, your online shopping history, an EKG reading, CCTV footage, a photo of a sandwich, a voice message, a tweet. All of these contain data that can be collected, analysed and monetised. Supercomputers and algorithms allow us to make sense of increasingly larger amounts of information in real time. In less than 10 years, CPUs are expected to reach the processing power of the human brain. A survey done by the Global Agenda Council on the Future of Software and Society shows that people expect artificial intelligence machines to be part of a company's Board of Directors by 2026. There is a good chance that in 15 years your job is going to be performed by computers, since decisions once based on experience and intuition will be made through machine analysis of massive amounts of data. Think about a vehicle that is able to read its environment and react accordingly, much like a human driver, but also analysing other sources of information that will make the trip safer, faster and more efficient. Analyzing vast amounts of medical data from different locations and demographics will allow to determine which conditions improve the effectiveness of certain treatments and which don't. Big data analysis will reveal patterns and connections that will vastly improve most human activities, but it will also create very detailed profiles for all of us, including information that we'd rather keep private. Will big data make privacy obsolete? Or will it bring transparency, accountability and progress?