It is a two-faced thing more than anything, really.

The vast amount of data can truly and tremendously enhance our lives for the better through things like deep learning and artificial intelligence, yet it can just as well do the exact opposite.

Understanding, and ideally control, what, when, why and how you as an individual generate data and who (or, perhaps, what) it is shared with is something I feel is hugely important to transparently discuss on an international level. Completely ignoring government surveillance and the like we face some decisions which fundamentally alter our current way of life and most, if not all, are irreversible.

Change is inevitable, but the outcomes are many. Actively engaging on all affected levels and openly discussing these things remains of utmost importance. Your article scratches the surface of several things and briefly touches upon a couple of important issues. It is this sort of engagement and making people actually think and question the technological advancements from several perspectives which is needed.