Chicago's Best Ideas: Omri Ben-Shahar Discusses "Why Fear Data"

In this talk, based on his forthcoming book “Why Fear Data,” Professor Ben-Shahar explains why data privacy protection is a misguided regulatory priority. The most troubling harms—what he calls “data pollution”—are societal, not personal, and remain beyond the reach of data privacy laws. At the same time, massive societal benefits from novel AI technologies, like reduced auto accidents, improved health treatments, and prevention of crime, which can save thousands of lives, millions of injuries, and trillions of dollars, are tragically restricted by heavy-handed data privacy laws.

This Chicago’s Best Idea was presented on October 21, 2025.