Experts estimate that the people of this planet created 150 billion gigabytes of data in 2005 and that they will create 1.2 trillion gigabytes this year.
When analyzed as business intelligence, this data is employed to tailor online marketing to your likes and dislikes, based on your online habits. Likewise, credit card and insurance companies scrutinize giant amounts of information for trends that help identify card theft and fraudulent claims.
However, all of this data has a downside. Information databases become objects of theft—stolen laptops and disks sometimes putting large numbers of people at risk. Online privacy is also an issue of ethics, with users wanting more control over their personal information ("The Data Deluge," Economist.com, Feb. 25, 2010).
Amazingly, this increase in information or knowledge was foretold well over 2,500 years ago. A brave Jewish refugee named Daniel, inspired by God, recorded this statement from his Maker: "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4, emphasis added).
