Throughout the twentieth century most educational data were produced and analyzed with government patronage, with the resulting knowledge defined as a public good for the improvement of citizens, workers and policies. Very recently, proprietary firms are producing huge new stores of educationally relevant data through digital media and are underwriting scientific investigation in the interest of improving privately owned educational products and services. This represents a major change in the ecology of educational knowledge production. I provide a synthetic description of this change and specify its implications for educational science, governance, business, and citizenship in the twenty-first century.