A few days ago, the world was shocked to discover that the NSA has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants in order to harvest personal intelligence, including the content of emails and internet search histories.  This latest drama reminds us, if any reminder was needed, that the future of online privacy will be one of the defining battles of the digital age.

Much has been written about the future of online data exchange and the implications for the future of the information economy.  Our take on this fundamental topic has been a trend we have coined Consumer Capital: a story of consumer empowerment, where consumers start to realise the intrinsic value of their data and seek new ways to store, safeguard and exchange their own personal intel for personal advantage.

This narrative is based on the growing evidence that: 1) consumers would like more control over the information they share with companies; and 2) consumers are starting to view their personal data as an asset that can be used to barter for better deals and offers.  Indeed, we have recently come across an excellent example of this trend being brought to life, where a dedicated consumer has been painstakingly collecting his own personal data and selling it for $2 a day.

What’s more, tales of gross data intrusions, such as that leaked this month, will only heighten consumer fears over the use of their online information and encourage them to seek new ways to guard against online snooping.

But I think it is important at this stage of the big data debate to pause and be frank about what scenarios we are likely to see emerging in the short to medium future.  Will we see new waves of people collecting and exchanging their data?  Or will this just be an interesting experiment carried out by the few who have the know-how and dedication?  I am leaning towards the latter.

Indeed, I expect that most of the key developments in data exchange over the next decade or so will be more brand-led than consumer-led.  This will still be a story of consumer empowerment. But the advantages that consumers will most likely receive will be primarily down to brands looking to find new ways of incentivising the sharing of consumer data, in response to mounting public and regulatory pressure.

In the longer term, episodes such as the NSA story this month will raise the more fundamental question about whether the current model of data exchange is sustainable – if we truly wish to build a future information economy which is in the best interests of all.  Will people, if they ever have, continue to accept the mining of their data in return for notions of free content or national security?  Or, as Jaron Lenier argues, will we need to cast off the default notion that data should be free and only through the monetization of data will we all benefit from an information economy that will become ever more encompassing?

What is certain is that, as more stories akin to the NSA controversy hit the headlines, we will be forced to decide what kind of system of data exchange we wish to build.  And whatever the outcome, this will be the fundamental question for the future of our information economy.

Future Foundation will be partnering with Interel to present The Big Data Dilemma thought leadership event on Thursday 20 June.  The event will explore how businesses and government can come together to create viable, long-term policies that allow organisations and consumers to reap the benefits and avoid a stiflingly over-regulated environment. See more at: http://www.interelgroup.com/sector-expertise/technology/big-data/#sthash.EdJEbzT6.dpuf

Sometimes, when watching football coverage on TV, you could almost believe it hasn’t changed over the years. And with so much fast-paced innovation going on within consumers’ lives and across the technological landscape over recent years, it definitely feels as if the whole experience of watching the game is ripe for a major shot in the arm.

The future of football on television was the subject of a panel discussion I took part in last weekend at the Adidas Lab, alongside experts from from BT Sport, YouTube, YouTube football channel Copa 90 and Adidas Global.

We kicked off by exploring the future of football broadcasting. The key consumer trends impacting how football will be shown by mainstream broadcasters are Demanding Consumers, Everyday Exceptional and Authenti-Seeking. It is very likely that the football fan of the future will expect the broadcasting experience to be closer to the in-stadium experience, to be more tailored to them as an individual and more immersive. Broadcasters might, for example, be better able to segment their offering, recognising that not all fans have the same relationship with the teams playing in a particular match, and therefore require different things from the broadcast, depending their interest in the teams playing and the importance of the game. For example, on some occasions viewers might prefer partisan rather than impartial commentary. They might like to suppress the commentary entirely and replace it with crowd noise (including banter, chanting and swearing) from a specific section of the ground.

Then we moved on to the future of online football, which clearly offers up new horizons to fans, in terms of content and access. Consumer trends such as Mobile Living, Native Marketing and Free! are highly relevant here, highlighting fans’ desire to access the sport they love via smartphones and tablets, wherever and whenever they want, to find the content they want without paying for it, and to immerse themselves ever deeper in the stories and characters that inhabit the beautiful game. Many clubs are already active in this sphere – Manchester City were cited as a good example, offering a “Tunnel Cam” that gives subscribers a new access point to see the players before the come onto the pitch.

From there we moved on to second screens. Second screening refers to viewers simultaneously doing something else like texting, web-surfing or status updating at the same time as viewing, driven by consumer trends like Smart Boredom and Smart Networking. In the context of football the second screen can be used for all kinds of things:

• Exchanging the banter that is so much a part of the football community using either dedicated apps such as Vubooo and Squawka Zeebox or traditional social media sources (Facebook, Twitter, and so on)
• Betting on the changing match situation via in-game gambling options
• Keeping tabs on the progress of one’s Fantasy Football team
• Ordering pizzas and other in-match provisions

We finished by considering the future of data in football (on TV), where consumer trends like Total Recall, Quantified Self and Consumer Capital become highly relevant. Data, in particular statistics from Opta, now characterise in- and post-game analysis like never before. Some of the high-tech gadgetry on show at the Adidas Lab will make data even richer and more accessible. But there is clearly a question about how much of this is desired by the viewing fan, as opposed to the football community itself.

From the 2013 season onwards, shirts worn by players from all participating teams in the US’s Major League Soccer will carry small chips powered by the Adidas miCoach Elite System that track a number of performance measures – including heartbeat, acceleration and speed. Spectators can access the data via a dedicated iPad app.

As the amount of data that in-ball, on-pitch, in-goal and on-player devices offer skyrockets, so do the dangers of data overload. I think the emphasis will continue to be on the usage of statistics to tell compelling stories through the usage of increasingly cool visualisation tools, rather than the stats being an end in themselves.

Overall, what seems clear is that the future of the beautiful game on TV is exciting. Football arouses passions that are often difficult for those not swept along by them to understand and which are diverse – from anger to frustration, sometimes joy, often humour. And all of these need to be retained in whatever form the high-tech future brings to us. Provided they can be kept the future of football can be both real and high-tech.

Once upon a time, most of us went about our online activities in a relatively care-free way. But then, as an explosion of liking and tweeting collided with a realisation that lots of our e-activities are really quite visible, many started to worry about the potentially indelible nature of their online footprints.

In the 10s, ever more intelligent use of our online data has added an extra element of concern into the mix: for many consumers, Big Data is a Big Problem. The vulnerability of sharing information with third parties has become more widely publicised and many – if certainly not all – consumers are gaining greater awareness about the extent to which companies can access and indeed harness their data.

As we write, about 60% say they are worried about who can access their data and that they would be interested in an online store which deliberately did not keep a record of their previous purchases. The desire for greater control is still more profound; 9 in 10 who say they are more concerned about privacy than they were five years ago want more control over how their personal information is used by companies.

It seems inevitable, then, that many of us will want to get smarter and savvier in how we conduct ourselves online. And here we can note the emergence of tools such as DeleteMe – an app in the US which offers an easy and simple way for consumers to keep their private information private. Acting as the online investigator, it searches some of the largest databases in the US to find and remove any details about the consumer in question.

The problem, though, is its price tag: $129 for a one-year subscription. Certainly, some of the most nervous surfers might think this a worthwhile investment but we have to question its appeal for the typical consumer. This does, however, point to one of the obvious opportunities emanating from this trend: services offering data-protecting credentials but in an effort-lite and inexpensive package are surely poised to do well. As are brands that acknowledge consumer concern and provide solutions which are quick and hassle-free for people to adopt.

As we discuss in our nVision trend The Quantified Self, smart technology has made consumers better positioned than ever before to monitor their day-to-day behaviours and understand the impact of their choices – and typically in real-time, seamless ways.

One area where we’ve seen particularly strong growth here is in the sporting arena. From Swimtag to Xperiathon to Nike’s FuelBand, so many tools and devices now promise to track a participant’s performance and inject a fun / competitive / self-improving angle. And to this (quickly-growing) list of  “Quantified Sports”, we can now add Tennis – with Babolat presenting a prototype of what it called the first ever connected tennis racquet during the French Open in May.

Used in a series of organised demonstrations featuring both amateur and professional players (including Rafael Nadal), the “Babolat Play & Connect” features sensors in the racquet handle which allow individuals to record data without interrupting their game.

Subsequently, players can transfer data to a computer, smartphone or tablet via a USB or wireless connection and then analyse specific information about their game – including service speed, qualification of strokes and ball spin. In addition, players can monitor their progress over time, set goals and, if they wish, post details to a specific social network to compare their performance or compete with others.

As the 10s progress, then, we have to expect ever more sporting activities to include a Quantified Self angle. But, perhaps just as importantly, must we also imagine that it will transform the process of spectating – making it a much more informed and interactive affair? By the 2016 Olympics, will we be able to receive instant assessments of how our favourite athletes have performed? We’d love to hear your thoughts.