What once was a gift has now become a “curse” as the data powering the smart technologies designed to help improve people’s lives is now caught in a wave of cybersecurity threats, confidentiality scandals, and the questionable practices of Silicon Valley giants. For years, tech companies operated in largely unfamiliar landscapes, but the race is on to get a handle on the future of data. Welcome to the privacy era, where addressing the effect of a personal-information free-for-all is an urgent priority.