Law, information, and contemporary finance in the United States: a sociological perspective

Abstract

The global financial system has become remarkably complex as it combines high transaction volumes with growing speed. Financial transactions depend critically on information to mitigate uncertainty and vulnerability, and such transactions are therefore affected by recent developments in information technology, driven by fintech firms and commonly termed ‘big data’. The volume, velocity and variety of information is unprecedented and poses new challenges for governance. Legal rules for data ownership, privacy, security and usage are becoming obsolete and ineffective in the context of algorithmic information processing and decision-making. Yet some types of information remain embedded in financial contracts and regulations, relatively unaffected by these developments. This variation challenges simplistic claims about big data and underscores how some of the historical particularities of the United States have gained global significance.