He is one of the top celebrities in the country: a fast-talking TV host, who can joke his way out of any situation. Women want to be with him, men want to be like him. He is looking for a new topic to discuss in his popular talk-show. She is a teacher at a musical school – a timid girl looking for Mr. Perfect on an internet dating site. He will help her realise her potential and teach her how to recognise various types of men for what they are, she will teach him what real life is about. The show will become a huge hit. It seems they are destined to fall in love and be together, but one day she actually does meet Mr. Perfect on the net.

With the rapid emergence of digital devices, an unstoppable, invisible force is changing human lives in ways from the microscopic to the gargantuan: Big Data, a word that was barely used a few years ago but now governs the day for many of us from the moment we awaken to the extinguishing of the final late-evening light bulb. This massive gathering and analyzing of data in real time is allowing us to not only address some of humanity biggest challenges but is also helping create a new kind of planetary nervous system. Yet as Edward Snowden and the release of the Prism documents have shown, the accessibility of all these data comes at a steep price. The Human Face of Big Data captures the promise and peril of this extraordinary knowledge revolution.