Information technology (IT) is one of the most growing areas in the last ten years of the world. Millions of people do IT-related jobs as professionals. Recently, advances in processing a large amount of data have created new opportunities to improve individual lives and the welfare of our societies.
The opportunity for profit comes through data mining, forecasting analytics tools, and other methodologies. Because of that big companies are finding paths to comprehensive more and more information about consumers. It shows how companies might realize the value of big data among data mining. It depicts big data and data mining as the most specific area of IT.
What is Big Data?
Big data is the collection of individual sensitive data and confidential information of an organization or governance. It is required to guarantee that personal data is secured. The main challenge of big data is to study a large amount of data and filter the most useful information for future activities.
What is Data Mining?
Data mining is a process of discovering patterns in large data sets involving methods at the intersection of machine learning, statistics, and database systems. Data mining is the predictive methodology and forecasting analytical tool that is used in companies to get better decision makings
Data mining helps to define the customer purchasing patterns to improve the development of the product, reduce fake health care, and also analyze the stock market, etc.
Personal information and sensitive data are used to analyze big data and data mining. Companies gather customer’s information through different technologies and use them to make predictions for future usage.
The data mining outcomes are used to predict upcoming performance and estimate business results. The recent development in Information Technology have enabled collecting and manipulating large amounts of individual’s data such as past criminal records, shopping patterns, credit card details, medical history, and driving records. This information is very beneficial in many areas such as medical research, national security, etc.
After analyzing the scenarios, two types of stakeholders are affected by the process of big data and data mining. The person who owns the data and the person who gets the data called an organization, company, or governance.
Still, it is important how they use consumer’s personal information with considering the real need. Data cannot be modified. They are periodically added data from historical systems. Once the data are saved in databases, authority is not allowed to do any changes. Therefore, the data environment is relatively static. To provide predictions for future intention, collected data should be accurate and need to update on time. If it has not happened predictions will be wrong and cannot get the right benefits through the data mining process.
Thus, giving privacy advantages to the people may also create harm to society because illegal activities are done by some people.
Many of the ethical issues have occurred in IT professionals because of breaking ethical principles.
Big data and data mining projects used data from persons, stakeholders, or government. As a result, confidentiality and privacy of data can be concerned as an issue.
However, there is potential harm that also can happen as a result of using big data. It should not reduce some benefits such as identify the fraud activities and preserving the disease etc. However, reselling customers’ privacy data growths the secondary misuse of data with eventual harmful impacts on users.
Personal Data Collection
Data stealers or data robbers may sell the data to foreign companies, government research agencies, or institutes and they may use the information for another purpose such as data mining. Academic research centers, private organizations, survey institutes may also use this information for analytics purposes. Thus, potential harm from incorrect information or false conclusion creates issues for society and users. So, the data owners must not only have their privacy and confidentiality protected, but they must also be made aware of how and why their information is used.
Big data and data mining projects involve personal data processing methodologies. The term “personal data” calls to the information which can be used to identify the individuals directly or indirectly by gathering data like identifiable name, national identity card number, or other personal characteristics that are unique to the person.
Ethical Issues on Selling Personal Information
The incorrect use of data is called misuse of data. It is called a “legitimate violation or action” which is going through against some certain code of conduct and either intentionally or accidentally can happen.
Data loss and abuse is another problem that is associated with data misuse.
When the valuable data has been disclosed it will be harmful to the individuals. There are always criminals associated with hidden motivators who are seeking opportunities to get the advantages of using these data.
Big data is bigger and there is no special machinery to actively monitor and control the individual’s sensitive information. Sometimes big data analysis will bring benefit to human beings in the health sector, educational field, etc. Data mining through big data is good action but the confidentiality of individuals’ information must be protected.
We use technology to get a smooth life but sometimes it creates problems for us. As the communication media, millions of people use emails. But sometimes they get the spam email most of the time. Anyhow problems arise because of the technology, we have to move with the new technology. But we should control and reduce the possible problems which are associated with technology and society. Through the data mining process, it brings more advantages to the greatest number of people.
Individuals must protect their personal information from using unethical purposes to reduce the professional issues related to big data and data mining. Therefore, when they are filling personal data in the form individuals have to ask how this information will be used, why it is used, which part of the information will be going too processed and how long they will keep this information’s etc.
But individually as well as socially has one of the major concerns in big data and data mining approach is with the security and privacy with big data. Because there are widely adopted in our daily life. A huge amount of data has been generated based on various aspects of the individuals. Without proper security and privacy protection mechanisms the data should be intentionally or unintentionally can be disclosed. It can be a threat to individuals also.
We must also recognize that we cannot expect to give simple answers to complex moral problems involving data. This will often be impossible not least because the data environment is changing so rapidly.
Big Data for A Better Future
Everywhere we use IT to get a better life but sometimes it creates difficulties for us such as misuse technology by IT professionals. In the big data and data mining process explore a better world for us. It is important to control criminal activities and anti-social activities and while controlling misuse.
In big data and data mining, customer privacy is essential.
Like the professionals, the IT industry also needs to establish professionalism. The government should affirm that data privacy. Also, the privacy act should be including some big data and data mining laws and customers should have permission to prohibit sharing their information globally while online selling policies must include that also. Further, Big data and data mining professionals should include some rules and regulations. IT professionals should be accepted full responsibility for their work. Transaction information should be controlled under the right of companies.
Finally, the Privacy rights and data Protection Act must include some acts to the personal privacy also.