Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wants to keep user data safe, calls it a 'human right'

By Rohan Abraham

Because it is a human right and must be protected, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said at a global forum.

At a time when people are more connected with one another and constantly sharing information online, data privacy is emerging as one of the biggest concerns for tech companies. And Microsoft’s Satya Nadella wants new global norms on privacy, data and artificial intelligence.

“Data is becoming the oxygen for new products and services,” Nadella said at the recently concluded World Economic Forum. “Data and digital technology is the new factor of production, be it in retail, health care, or other businesses.”


Keeping it safe
Acknowledging that data touches every part of society, Nadella said that the next industrial revolution was underfoot, and that tech companies dabbling with artificial intelligence (AI ) would be at the vanguard of change.

But not at the cost of privacy. “Data privacy is a human right. At Microsoft, we understand that we are the custodians of data which has been earned by the trust of the user. Individual companies cannot abdicate our responsibilities,” he said.

Emerging technologies
Nadella also the welcomed regulation of facial recognition technology, hinting that self-regulation among tech companies might not be enough to deal with the issue of privacy intrusion.

“If we are in competition with rivals without applying self-regulatory checks, it could lead to an aggravated problem,” he said. That’s why the Microsoft boss feels there is a need for global privacy regulation. Calling the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR ) a “fantastic start”, he said, “In a digital world, everybody can grow if we realise that the web is interconnected. When it comes to data privacy, there are ethical standards in place. A similar framework should be in place when artificial intelligence goes mainstream.”

However, Nadella warned that it would be naïve to assume that there is uniformity in the way different cultures prioritise privacy. He gave the example of how data privacy laws in China are relatively lax, compared to that in Europe and the US. “It is natural for countries to put their interest first, but we have to find a global maxima as the climate, environment, and cyberspace are all shared commodities,” he said.