The paper gives a picture of the Information and Communication revolution that takes place globally. It describes the effects of the massive data collection and processing on the social and economic reality and the inter-relation between governments, private companies and citizens. It is concluded that very strong protections are needed for privacy and personal data, including severe sanctions and data protection authorities with strong enforcement powers. But that this is not enough. Effective protection and empowerment of people will need to include rules on transparency and accountability of data processing, and revisiting of consumer protection and competition policies.