Dear Readers,
Our world is currently experiencing an interesting dichotomy when it comes to data and transparency. On the one hand, information has never been so accessible. Nearly five billion people actively use the internet to stay connected to social media, work, shopping, and much more. Our information, both public and private, is being catalogued by the companies and governments with which we interact, in many cases whether we want it to be collected or not.
However, our world is also one of intense secrecy in which the inner workings of governments and corporations are nearly impossible to uncover. Those in power have huge incentives to keep the public eye away from their dealings. After all, the easiest way to keep one’s power is to hide it, or at least hide the means that enable it.
Perhaps it came as a surprise then last week when a treasure trove of secretive financial information pertaining to some of the most powerful government and public figures was released. The “Pandora Papers”, as they were called by the media, certainly shed light on a lot of private details that the rich and powerful likely did not want to be made public.
