Since the founding of the United States in 1776, the people of this nation have stressed the importance of liberty. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights both identify many of the rights that people should be afforded. The founders created these documents so that the government would not be able to infringe upon citizens’ rights, unlike the monarchy in England. Approximately three hundred years later, people are facing a conundrum as yet another threat to their freedom has developed. Data mining is an inherently public practice that allows strangers to view users’ personal information, oftentimes without their knowledge. This loss of privacy and control has captured the attention of Internet users as the ramifications have become clearer.
The acronym K.D.D. is a widely used term in the technology community that stands for “knowledge discovery in databases” (Vedder 1). According to a law professor, “we may find ourselves in a situation where KDD appears to have undermined the methodic and normative individualism which pervades the mainstream of morality and moral theory” (Vedder 1). When looking at the international level, it is interesting to note that the European Directive for the Parliament and Council maintained that data should only be obtained if a specific reason warrants it and that if it is collected without consent, then it is illegitimate (Vedder 2). The idea that data mining infringes on basic rights is a concern for many Internet users. If the value of individualism is unprotected, then how should people respond to this?
A great deal of the general public in this age of frequent misinformation scandals continue to use websites that employ questionable data mining techniques. When it comes to Internet use, many people’s need to go on websites overrides their security and privacy concerns even though they are unaware of the types of data being collected and how this data is being used. Facebook is a prime example of this phenomenon. Shortly after the Cambridge Analytica hacking scandals became news, the hashtag #deletefacebook was trending on Twitter (Confessore 1). However, many people defended Facebook or were willing to overlook data breeches because it is a unique social media company that adds value to their lives. This is notable because the public quickly became divided over the use of Facebook and whether their privacy and security infringements warranted a total boycotting of the platform. The supply and demand relationship between the company and the user fosters a reliance on the company while the user is largely powerless. This is why so many individuals continue to use Facebook even though Russian and Ukrainian hackers and a data analyzation company with ties to President Trump have all used data mining through the company to track users and create patterns about people’s personal information.
When it comes to “cookies” on websites and social media platforms, most people possess a level of concern knowing that small amounts of their data are being stored by companies (unknown author 1). However, people’s need to use websites overrides their concerns and discomfort with the idea that companies are building profiles about their habits and preferences. Even as the issues surrounding data mining are brought to the attention of the public, altogether quiting the Internet hardly seems like a viable solution. According to Mehmet Okur the Journal of Yasar University, “Since privacy and even ethics are mostly personal matters, commonly applicable protective solutions are difficult to formulate” (Okur 4). As American society continues to rely on the Internet for an array of uses, it is challenging to imagine that people will stop using it. Even so, Internet data mining illicts a range of reactions from users as privacy and security concerns continue to develop.
Internet Data Mining 