What are the privacy issues with data mining? Do you think they are substantiated?

 

Answer:

Due to the massive influence of social media and the integration of technology in our daily lives, our privacy is a huge risk. This is a serious matter that needs serious attention and solution. We heard and read news about these tech giants involved in lawsuits because of privacy issues. Internet was not designed to ensure security and privacy it is called information superhighway because it mainly used to spread information on a global scale. With the utilization of Big data, businesses nowadays harness information from us the consumers for their gain. This is a privacy violation right in front of our eyes and is a constant debate on how can we protect our identities from the rampant cybercrimes happening all around the world. This is a big challenge for all of us, especially we rely so much on technology on a day to day basis. These pieces of digital information ranging from pictures, text messages, emails, posts, likes and other social media activity are being used by various organizations to create a profile of users and individuals based on their interests and other personal information. 

These privacy issues have a weak substantial claim since we are prohibited from accessing their database and monitor their activities especially on how they are using our individual data. However, there are instances that these privacy violations are exploited I be citing the biggest privacy issue faced by Facebook which was the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. Where the data from the users have been sold to third-party organizations and helped influence the result of the US Election. This practice is routinely done by Facebook to third party marketing firms as valuable input for self-targeting advertisements. They are using the personal information about the users like and interests to different fields and products to create a customized marketing strategy and advertisement tailored to users specifications and interests.