Merkel tells German businesses to embrace big data

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told some of the country’s business leaders on Tuesday that they shouldn’t fear the rise of big data.

There are persistent concerns in the country over government surveillance and the way that data could be used to spy on citizens. But Merkel said that Germany must get over that fear if it wants to continue to compete in the digital age.

{mosads}”Whoever sees data as a threat, whoever thinks about every piece of data in terms of what bad can be done with it, will not be able to take advantage of the opportunity of digitization,” she said, according to Reuters. She reportedly made a point of noting she was referring to using data to target products at customers.

“Many jobs will disappear because they can be replaced by machines,” she said. “But I’m convinced that many more jobs will be created through the value of data.”

Germany has put a heavy emphasis on privacy in technology. Last year, the country’s privacy regulator fined Google the maximum amount allowed under the law for collecting personal data with the cars it uses to take pictures for Google Street View.

And while German companies are reportedly moving towards doing more analysis of customer data, corporations are still concerned about its misuse. Also on Tuesday, Rupert Stadler, the chief executive of German automaker Audi, criticized the idea that data from cars could be used by anyone other than customers.

“That’s private,” he said, responding to the growing interest in so-called connected cars. “The only person who needs access to the data onboard is the customer.”

Concerns over data safety have also reportedly had an effect on American companies as well. A report released Tuesday morning by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation found that U.S. tech companies are likely to lose more than $35 billion by 2016 because foreign customers are wary of American mass surveillance.