Nehemiah 12:23. "The sons of Levi, heads of father's houses, were written in the book of Chronicles until the days of Johanan the son of Eliashib." The book of Nehemiah takes place during the return from exile. At the beginning of the book, Nehemiah is still in exile, serving as cup-bearer to the king, but upon learning the sorry state of the Jews returning to Judah, and the total destruction they are returning to, he asks for and is given permission to return to help rebuild the city. (Nehemiah 2:5-8). Today's verse comes from a list of the priests and Levites who came from the other towns of Judah to Jerusalem as the rebuilding was underway.

Having just returned to their homeland, and having the daunting task of rebuilding ahead of them, the people of Israel had a special appreciation for the customs and laws of their forefathers. They wanted to be rebuild, not to change Jerusalem to something new, not to "build back better", but to build back to what Jerusalem had been in her glory, to what she was intended to be, the city of God. They did not know or remember all of the things their ancestors had done, but the things they did know, the knowledge that the Levites had preserved through tradition even when in exile, they did "according to the commandments of David the man of God." (Nehemiah 12:24). Because of all this, they knew the importance of writing things down and so they did - they kept lists, they wrote the Book of Chronicles, they kept records.

Record-keeping and data are incredibly important. Good record-keeping keeps a society functioning, but it is important who is keeping the records, and who owns the data. Here the Israelites were keeping records for themselves and for posterity. The records were owned by the public and entrusted to their leaders for the good of the people. That is how good record keeping should work. But today, to whom are we giving our data and how are they using it? In large part, we are giving up all kinds of information about ourselves and our families to various companies and corporations, especially tech companies, that are not working for our individual or public good. These corporations' objective under the law is to make money for their shareholders. Not only that, but many of their senior officers and decision makers are steeped in a value system that is antithetical to the common good and individual freedom, so even when they think they are doing good, they are promoting things that are quite bad. Since we have given them our data willingly, they have every right to, and do, use it to achieve their objectives. Sometimes, as we saw during COVID and the last election, they use our data to manipulate us and public opinion, silencing and punishing voices counter to the narrative they want told. It seems they want to "build back better" - but to a better defined by the powerful and the elite, not by the people, and certainly not by God.

Often, we are not even aware of the immense amount of data that is being accumulated on us, but every time we use an online service, post a photo online, play a "free" game, use a loyalty cards, enable location trackers, take a survey, or even just fill out a form, we are giving someone valuable data about ourselves. We have let corporations become our record keepers, and they do not have our best interests at heart. We can see more and more people being hurt as these companies gain an almost god-like control over our lives. Some of that was discussed in the Senate hearings on online child safety that took place just yesterday.

Personally, I do not see a great solution to this right now. I just try to other to limit the information I give out, use a privacy oriented browser, stay off of most social media, turn off GPS on my phone unless needed, not use Alexa or similar assistants, and other small things. I also approach everything with an understanding that I am dealing with a company that may have a motto like "Don't Be Evil", but does not define evil the same way I do, nor have the same values I do, and has a legal duty to make profits for its shareholders, which it will do in every legal way possible, including using my data as it sees fit.

Corporations exist to make money, not to build a world that is protective of individual well-being, freedom, and democracy. We should not let them lull us into thinking they are beneficent, or even neutral, keepers of our data, and we should limit our, and our children's,  interactions with and reliance on them and their services accordingly.