Every
move you make online is being recorded. Data mining is all around us and almost
every modern online technology is using it. From your car to your cellphone each
input you make is being recorded. This data is being used in a wide variety of
ways; some that seem small and insignificant and others that cause a great
uproar.
The
problem with deciding what is ethical and what is not is that there is no clear
answer. For any situation you have people who fall on both sides of the line
and because this is a new filed that is increasing everyday there are not many
if any precedents too fall back on. The same people who have a problem with
companies storing their messages are fine with data mining when it is convenient
for them; Amazon keeping track of your recently purchased so you can easily
reorder an item that you like. This all add to the problem of where the line
should be drawn on companies using private information for someone’s advantage
(either the customer or themselves).
This
issue is depicted on the television series Parks and Recreation.
We see
the town of Pawnee, Indiana happily accept the introduction of Gryzzl into their
lives and its free Wi-Fi, but then object when their privacy is invaded,
however Gryzzl does not believe they are in the wrong. This is a depiction of
data mining and the use of private information going to far. Most people would
disagree with the use of information in this way, but do the companies involved
see it that way?
With
companies and individual citizens disagreeing on what is ethical in the
potential uses of private information it makes it harder to pass laws to
determine what is and is not ethical. The further technology advances the more
these issues are going to appear, which makes it critical that we come to the
correct decision of what is ethical. Always remember what you do online is
being recorded.
Hi, I like the title of the post and you had a good hook! To improve, i suggest explicitly explaining what reading/idea you are building off of and connecting that with your idea of Data Mining ethics. Also, i'm not sure what the first image provides in terms of content; if the process of data mining is relevant to the argument then explain why. Otherwise, possibly replace the image with some statistics or a picture of everything that uses data mining. Good Luck!
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