To me data mining is all about personal privacy. I love the convenience and perks data mining can add to my life. But which do I value more? The convenience or privacy.
Cookies that save my Expedia searches are great. But when all of the information about me from my internet usage across the web is combined it creates a profile with more than I would like to share with the world. I would be fine with a general outline being shared like: female, age 20-25, Charlotte resident. Much more beyond that is not knowledge these companies should know.
Check out this article from TIME to get an idea of what I am talking about.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2058205,00.html
I find it somewhat disturbing that it can be found out so easily the exact dollar amounts I spend on various sites. Author, Joel Stein, explains that each piece of information like that or his religious affiliation are sold for about two-fifths of a cent. The people collecting and selling your information have now been named
"data brokers" although they prefer the title of "data analyzer." I would like to think that I could pay an few extra cents with my order and have it be a protected or anonymous purchase. The issue becomes that there is more than one company trying to buy my information and their wallets are bigger than mine. I can't buy them all out.
If I can't stop them then who will? It may end up being our government. Our leaders are delving into this topic as an issue citizens face. Last year Congress’s Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus met with nine data mining companies to dicuess the data brokering practices. This meeting was in response to the Declaration of Internet Freedom. The Caucus did not make any conclusion or actions, but said they would “push for
whatever steps are necessary to make sure Americans know how this
industry operates and are granted control over their own information.”
This would be a big intervention if they did end up stopping or limiting this intrusive data mining. I'm not sure this practice should be illegal, but I feel it has gone too far. If the government were to interfere, would they be hindering free trade or protecting its citizens?
How do you feel about the availability of your information? Do you think its use creates dirty marketing? Is it the governments role to protect this information or is it public knowledge?
Additional Reading and Sources Cited:
http://www.dailydot.com/news/9-data-mining-companies-testify-congress/
I find it interesting how easily our information can be sold online to marketers. Do any of these sites give warning to the breach of information being shared? Do we as Internet users accept this from the convenience of the web?
ReplyDeleteA lot of companies have users agree to terms when using their websites and services. Many times we don't read them and they include sections that discuss information and privacy sections.
ReplyDeleteI can say that, yes, I personally accept this as part of the use of many free services.