Question

IN 200 WORDS OR MORE

Assess the ethical implications with respect to both individuals and institutions within the scope of data mining and predictive analytics. Give an example

Answer 1

In context of Data mining and Predictive analysis the Ethical implications arise mainly due the nature of the data and the inferences that can be drawn from it which otherwise would not have been disclosed by a person.

From the point of view of the Individual: The most important issue being that the individual does not know that data about him/her is being collected and through Analytics can be used to infer personal information that the Individual otherwise would have wanted to keep private. This is a breach of trust for the individual. For example, Data mining and predictive analysis can be used to determine Political leanings and even sexual orientation of a person. There was a case recently where a man was identified as gay over Facebook with help of its data analytics and this information leaked causing him to face discrimination and embarrassment. There was also news about a pregnant teen whose family found out when companies started sending baby ads to the house addressed to her.

From the point of view of organizations: There are two types of organizations in the picture: one that use data mining and predictive analytics on large user data and one who consume this information in some way. Privacy and data confidentiality should be a prime concern to organizations. Any collected data should be secured and anonymized. Ethical organizations should refrain from ‘buying’ data about their employees from third parties. Any data collection must be done after consent is provided. Organizations should therefore avoid coming in contact with any means that would bring them in contact to Personally Identifiable information about any of their employees without their prior permission.