Data Mining affects everyone, including Children!

Although many of us don’t know the exact process or techniques of what data mining is and the affects that this tool has on our lives, we must come to the realization that it affects everyone. It is inevitable that everything that we do is tracked, some way, some how. Every credit card purchase, log in to a Free Wi-Fi hot spot, check in on social media and many other day-to-day activities. Some of the tracking is definitely for our benefit, such as credit card expenditures to detect fraud, but can also be turned around to show companies our spending habits in order for them to target us with promotions, ads, etc.

What about the content of the emails that you send everyday to your family members, friends or even just a co-worker? More and more companies are coming up with algorithms that piece together information in order to target you with specific advertisements. For example, I sent an email to my manager from my personal Gmail account that was asking for days off for a vacation that was previously planned before I was hired. When I sent the email I then returned to the Google homepage and searched for something. I then noticed on the right side of my screen there was an advertisement for hotwire.com which is a website often used to book flights, hotels, rental cars and all other necessities while on vacation.

Ever think about children who send emails using the accounts provided to them by schools just for educational purposes? Officials are becoming more aware that children are becoming the target of companies collecting their information from school databases without consent from their parents. This information is then turned over to third party companies and the information is used to their advantage for advertising purposes.

Many legal actions are underway to protect students across the country and more specifically in Massachusetts. Just this week they have “introduced legislation that would ban companies that provide cloud computing services from processing student data for commercial purposes.” This legislation will protect student email accounts from Kindergarten all the way through Twelfth grade. The argument is that since it is against the National Education Association’s Code of Ethics for a teacher to use any personal knowledge obtained from a student for private advantage, shouldn’t there be something protecting all students when they send their professor/teacher an email that asks for help in a certain subject and then the next advertisement they see offers tutoring services from another outside source?

Going along with the legal action that is taking place in Massachusetts, many are arguing that this protection under law of collecting this information for commercial use should be extended to those post-secondary students. Not only should we be worried about protecting those that can’t protect themselves (students in K-12) but those that are targeted through their school email address which is used mainly for educational purposes. Massachusetts is the first state to take this specific type of legal action in order to protect its youth, but they hope to get other states on board.

There is a very interesting article that talks about the actions that the Federal Trade Commission is taking to close any gaps that outside companies are finding to obtain this information and use to their advantage in their advertising strategies. Link to the article: http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2013/02/06/02security.h06.html

Not everyone notices the immediate affects that data mining has on each and every one of us like my example of the email that I sent to my manager, but have you ever seen an advertisement anywhere on the Internet that made you think, “wow this looks like it’s for me”? Many could argue that it is a coincidence, but some algorithms that companies have come up with may prove that statement to be false. Companies are targeting an even younger market than college students but those that are in grade school through sources that seem illegal. These children are becoming more and more protected because of legislation like the one proposed in Massachusetts.

Other Source used: http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/02/mass-bill-to-ban-data-mining-of-student-emails/

Be Aware...

We all want to be better understood as customers and data mining can be a valuable tool for helping businesses do just that. However, do the benefits of having your grocery store know your milk preference outweigh the risk of your personal information being accessible to virtually anyone who wants to find it? How many times have you given out your phone number, posted a status about a sporting event you’re at, or tweeted about the cool restaurant you’re having lunch at that day? How many companies have you given your email address and zip code to? Was that the same email address you use to log into Facebook, Twitter, or your email?

You are all aware of just how digitally connected our society is becoming. Over time we all spin a giant digital web of our personal information consisting of zip codes, email addresses, pictures, purchase history, etc. Of course, providing this type of information is all done in an innocent way. No one sees any risk in giving out such a seemingly harmless piece of information. I mean, you share your zip code with thousands of people so no one would be able to track you specifically, right?

If you put the right hound on the trail, more times than not, they can sniff out things you never intended for anyone to find. I’m talking about super sensitive things such as your location or your credit card information. Don’t believe me? There exists publicly accessible tracking software that allows you to enter very general information such as a person’s name and zip code and it pulls up all kinds of information on persons with that criteria. I tried this using my own name and zip code and it was able to find my class registration that I uploaded to a photography website 2 years ago. It included building and room numbers as well as the time I would be in those classes. This kind of information could allow for someone like me, who has no knowledge of hacking or programming at all, to access such sensitive information. What do you think a trained hacker would be able to find?

As if that isn't scary enough, let us introduce the increasingly accurate face recognition software. Sure it is nice not to have to tag everyone in your Facebook photos but is it really worth those extra 10 minutes you save? Not in my opinion. For Facebook to recognize you in a photo, they have to have the details of your face stored away in a database. Now, sure, that database is protected but there is still a copy of super sensitive information about the exact dimensions of your face out there somewhere. Google uses this same technology and allows you to Google a picture of someone and will search for that person (which is can recognize using one picture) across the internet. This is an example of the transition from the mining of data about you and the mining of data that is you.

The point of this message is to make you conscious of some of the threats out there and to ask you to guard your information. This is a reality that we all must be aware of in today’s society so I encourage you to think twice about what information you give out and to whom.