Data Mining and Privacy-an ethical look Essay -- Data Mining Technolog

Data mining and Privacy-an ethical look I. IntroductionIn 2001, the MIT Technology Review listed entropy mining as one of the cover charge 10 technologies that will change the world.i So, what is entropy mining? For many people, the simple answer is that data mining is the collecting of peoples info when logged onto the Internet. nevertheless Webopedia emphasizes that data mining is not the collection of data itself, but the statistical interpretation of it allowing people to obtain new information or find recondite patterns within that collected data.ii It is the combination of these, collection and analysis, which are cause for concern. People want to know What information is being collected about me? Who has access to that information? What decisions are people making about me based upon that information?This paper looks at how data mining is currently being used on the Internet. It examines whether our secrecy rights are vulnerable. Ways in which our privacy ca n be protected are explored. Finally, an ethical question is considered Are we maintaining our privacy with the current usage of data mining on the Internet? This question is looked at from several ethical points of view.II. Examples of Data Mining UseIn general, nearly every time you crop or make a purchase online, information is collected on your actions. Then targeted advertising can be presented online, emailed, snail-mailed or even phoned to you. The business model behind this is best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior (ala Dr. Phil). One company claims that retailers can increase their return on data mining investment by 1,000 percent.i The first step in understanding data mining is to look at the various ways t... ...www.acm.org/sigs/sigkdd/explorations/issue4-2/thuraisingham.pdfx Sara Baase, A cave in of Fire (Upper Saddle River, NJ Prentice Hall, 2003)44, 46, 55, 85, 86xi American Civil Liberties Union, MATRIX Myths and Reality, 10 Feb 2004, 17 Feb 2004, http//www.aclu.org/news/NewsPrint.cfm?ID=14894&c=130xii Dan Verton, Senate Kills Data Mining Program, 18 Jul 2003, Computerworld, 17 Mar 2004, http//www.pcworld.com/news/article/0%2Caid%2C111626%2C00.aspxiii Martin S Olivier, Database Privacy - Balancing Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability, SIGKDD Explorations 42 (December 2002) 20-27, 29 Feb 2004, http//www.acm.org/sigs/sigkdd/explorations/issue4-2/olivier.pdfxiv Patricia Ellen Freed, Thinking ethically about Policy Issues, Jewish College of Nursing and Allied Health, 13 Mar 2004, http//www.icss.net/freedos/Pages/Debate/Review.html