Data is quite clearly fuelling our economy. That’s why the business of collecting, analysing and ringfencing it is making its way out of search, ecommerce and social media and into every other area of the economy — healthcare, finance, insurance, education, and beyond.

A Financial Times investigation last week showed that numerous healthcare websites, including WebMD and Healthline, have been sharing sensitive user data with big technology platforms, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Oracle and a number of smaller companies. In the US, there were revelations of Google’s own foray into healthcare data collection and analysis, “ Project Nightingale”, conducted with America’s second largest hospital group. Google amassed personal medical records on tens of millions of patients, without notifying them or their doctors.

Google has also announced plans to move into another industry— the financial services business — partnering with Citigroup to offer current accounts. The bank will keep its brands on the product, but Google will mine the data. No prizes for guessing who will walk away with the most value from that deal.