Report on Legal and Ethical Implications of Data Mining and Social Media

Legal and Ethical Implications of Data Mining and Social Media

Introduction of Legal and Ethical Implications of Data Mining and Social Media

Data Mining could be defined as the computational procedure of analyzing huge amounts of data, with a purpose to excerpt the structures along with the valuable information. In the past few years, data mining has been broadly identified as an influential yet adaptable tool of data analysis within a range of areas such as Information Technology or IT, sociology, clinical medicine, and also physics. In brief, data mining described as a process utilized by the companies in these modern days, with a purpose to convert raw data into useful and valuable data. Data mining integrates discovering and also analyzing the huge parts of information to assemble outlines and patterns (Larose, 2015).

Understanding Social Media and Data Mining

In the context of politics, there are many politicians who have been using the models of data mining. There is a case of President Barack Obama, who has brought the introduction to a phase where elections and votes are accomplished by ad persona publicity. In the year of 2012, the MIT Technology Review has reported the model which previously predicted that Obama would earn  of the accumulate poll, but then, he eventually got  this was surely reflected off the accurate number. In fact, these exact numbers were enduring to develop throughout the years, with enhanced Artificial Intelligence or AI supporting in predictions (Shirky, 2011). Moreover, the results taken from data mining could be used in various ways such as marketing database, the management of credit risk, detection of fraud or scam, filtering of spam emails, or else, differentiate the users' opinion as well (Ahmad, 2018).

On the other hand, social media mining defined as the process of acquiring big data derived from the user-produced content on social media platforms, with a purpose to extract the patterns, develop valuable information regarding the users, and then response on the information itself, which is frequently for the advertising purpose toward the users or performing research. At this point, it appears that the Governments nowadays have realized that social media could be used as one of the ideal tools in interacting with the public (Ahmad, 2018).

In fact, it has proven that social media network is a highly powerful method for the government institutions to reach the public. By using social media networks, the Governments have been making the services available to the citizens within the public sector, as well as forming more jobs in the developing sector at a lower cost. These circumstances have led to the public well productive, along with their perceptions of the government to become positive ones. At this point, it is fair to say that social media network has also delivered some effects or influences in the context of voting behavior, education, marketing, and of course, Government (Bhatnagar, 2013).

Looking at Legal and Ethical Implications of Legal and Ethical Implications of Data Mining and Social Media

However, the issues come along with the use of data mining and social media. As mentioned above, data mining is actually a clickstream to acquire data from the user throughout the Internet who is eventually being used by website in these modern days (Eyob, 2009).

The main concern has spread out due to the fact that there are huge chances for the privacy invasion to have occurred. Social media and data mining have united to establish a new field of study named social media mining. Social media mining defined as the process of demonstrating, investigating, and also extracting actionable structures derived from data on social media. In simple words, this term of social media mining will appear at the time a company or any type of organization gathers data around the social media users, and then analyzes the data, with a purpose to create some conclusions regarding the users' populations. The results are every so often used in marketing campaigns in order to target their definite market segments (Patino, et al., 2012).

Conversely, this social media mining has been approved to have both legal and ethical implications, and up till now, these implications are still extending. The main argument was appeared to be privacy considerations. Even though social media mining typically offers itself to be used in the business, and the companies in this digital world such as Google and also Facebook have been spending big to make sure in presenting applicable ads for their customers, but still, taking information from the daily users’ social media for any corporate utilization has turned out to become the primary concern. For instance, Facebook has been collecting huge volumes of its users’ data on a regular basis, by searching over the ads that were snapped, profiles’ updates, holidays’ postings, shows watched, completing the entire data away, with a purpose to assists the marketers to reach the public, attracted with the products or services offered (Hakikur Rahman, 2013).

The Role of Social Media of Legal and Ethical Implications of Data Mining and Social Media

Despite the negative implication above, social media mining has viewed for the use and ethical implication which is researched. It has approved that social media has the capability to provide a valuable outlet meant for research, gathering the ideas for research, recruiting the participants for the study, as well as adopting the involvement from the stakeholders. Social media networking, likewise, gives an ideal sandbox to ethnographies and considering individuals, an astounding source of information for "studying collaboration relationships, group structure, and who-talks-to-whom." On the other hand, numerous ethical difficulties have been raised by various researchers, including hazy lines between what the real means by , guaranteeing  for information subjects, and drawing protected innovation lines. A genuine and perilous flipside of social media mining completely relies on unlawful groups deliberately mining the data from social media for illicit or pernicious uses (Norval & Henderson, 2017).

Conclusion of Legal and Ethical Implications of Data Mining and Social Media

At last, social media mining has genuine consequences with regards to Governments. Protection has consistently been a precept of the American government and equity framework, and many are troubled by the capability of the legislature to keep an eye on their private lives and practices, regardless of whether this data is sorted out by scratching information from the Internet. Basically, social media digging has utilized to support the public, yet it also quite possible for public misappropriation as well.. In general, social media mining has delivered some benefits, yet is such a touchy matter, that there should be more security and structure in regards to how this data ought to be taken care of.