Ethics Of Data Mining

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Author(s): Jack Cook (Rochester Institute of Technology, USA)
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 7
Source title: Information Security and Ethics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Hamid Nemati (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-937-3.ch015

Keywords: Information Science Reference / Information Security & Privacy / IT Security and Ethics / Security & Forensics

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Abstract

Decision makers thirst for answers to questions. As more data is gathered, more questions are posed: Which customers are most likely to respond positively to a marketing campaign, product price change or new product offering? How will the competition react? Which loan applicants are most likely or least likely to default? The ability to raise questions, even those that currently cannot be answered, is a characteristic of a good decision maker. Decision makers no longer have the luxury of making decisions based on gut feeling or intuition. Decisions must be supported by data; otherwise decision makers can expect to be questioned by stockholders, reporters, or attorneys in a court of law. Data mining can support and often direct decision makers in ways that are often counterintuitive. Although data mining can provide considerable insight, there is an “inherent risk that what might be inferred may be private or ethically sensitive” (Fule & Roddick, 2004, p. 159).

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