(CNN) -- Just as the politics of oil shaped the 20th century industrial economy, so the politics of data will shape the 21st century digital economy. At this week's Digital Life Design (DLD), a prestigious technology conference held annually in Munich, the fault lines of the political debate about data were exposed by the event's two keynote speakers: The European Commission's vice president for justice, Viviane Reding, and Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg. Reding and Sandberg were in agreement about one thing: personal data is the new oil, the vital fuel of our digital economy. But that's about all they agreed on at DLD. In every other respect, their priorities and agendas represent the bookends of an increasingly fractious debate that is pitting European politicians like Reding against American social media networks such as Sandberg's Facebook.
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Digital conference in Germany pits Facebook against European regulators over data use
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Commentator Andrew Keen says argument highlights data's role as oil of digital age
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Keen also questions notion that internet is an engine of progress
And it makes us richer too, she argued, suggesting that Facebook alone had created 230,000 jobs and is even committed to giving 50,000 @placeholder small businesses â‚¬100 euros ($130) apiece to develop their social identities.