SECURITY AND PRIVACY IMPLICATIONS OF DATA MINING

Abstract

Data mining enables us to discover information we do not expect to find in databases. This can be a security/privacy issue: If we make information available, are we perhaps giving out more than we bargained for? This position paper discusses possible problems and solutions, and outlines ideas for further research in this area. 1 Introduction Database technology provides a number of advantages. Data mining is one of these; using automated tools to analyze corporate data can help find ways to increase efficiency of an organization. Another advantage of database technology is information sharing (including sharing with other organizations). For example, publicly accessible corporate telephone books can decrease the need for telephone operators (offloading this task to the caller...) Sharing need not be completely public - making inventory information available to suppliers can help a retail operation to avoid shortages, and can lower the supplier's cost (thus allowing the retailer to n...