There is also a distinct possibility of recognizing data as an asset class under the Indian Accounting Standards 38. In 2011, the World Economic Forum and Bain published a joint study identifying personal data as a “new asset class” leading to the “data is oil” narrative. Moreover, Facebook maintains 98 data points on each user in addition to the information purchased from 5,000 data brokers. But free is not free as users pay for these services, not in dollars but in data. With over 450 million internet users, it ranks amongst the top 5 per capita data consumption economies and is now the top mobile data user in the world.

Source: Mint April 08, 2018 17:03 UTC