To answer the question are information and data the same, the non-neutrality principle implies no, because information is some objective metric about something, while data is a collection of subjectively gathered information.
For example, Apple’s maps service recently adjusted the borders around the disputed peninsula of Crimea, now showing Crimea as Russian rather than Ukrainian.
We know that Crimea exists; we know spain rcs data where the peninsula is located and how big it is and what type of terrain makes up the territory. But the data one receives from Apple maps is reflective of non-informational choices. Someone has chosen to label Crimea as Russian, just as a choice has also been made for the past several years to not label it Russian, and just as all borders represent choices about the division and interpretation of geographic information.
Data is thus non-neutral, and – as Gitelman attests – raw data is oxymoronic.
The combination argument is a subtly different take on the question: are information and data the same thing?
Another legal scholar, Christopher Rees, argues that data isn’t so much about conceiving of information as data, but instead is the product of combining information.
For example, if I have a column of numbers ranging from 0 to 100, I have no idea what these numbers mean in aggregate. That’s not to say that these numbers aren’t informative; I can identify whether a 6 is a 6 or a 4 is a 4. The trouble is, I don’t know what 4 or 6 relate to.