Although we say 'dangers of data mining' like all technology and ideas, they are only as dangerous as the application we use them in. Data mining itself is not a dangerous tool, it is simply turning useless data into useful information, now in itself this implies that this is a good thing, however as we shall see it can be used for all the wrong reasons.

Despite the positive uses of data mining (Which are detailed in some of the other articles for this release) which include its use in scientific research and developing new materials to be used, there are some uses that definately call into question its use by certain groups.

One use that has caused some concern, is when data mining is used to correlate data that is can be linked to individuals. This could obviously be seen as a breach of privacy and this is where data mining starts to tread on dangerous ground. One recent example of where data mining has been highlighted as a possible danger to privacy is where blockbuster used data mining to correlate what DVD's were rented by what person, they then used this to produce targeted advertising based on the DVD's they had rented. This is clearly invading their privacy as it is clear the company was storing people's personal tastes and preferences and using it to try and boost their sales.

Although in the Blockbuster example the information was kept within the company, the possibility exists that the information could become shared. And as more and more companies begin holding databases there is a very real chance that they may begin to share information to target specific people with products. Although this could be seen as a good thing from the perspective of the companies, it is obviously concerning for us as, for example a holiday company may share the information of what kind of holidays we go on, when we go on them and our contact details. If this information was given to a sister company then they may begin sending advertising to you even if you had not travelled with them before.

In conclusion we can see that the process of data mining itself is not dangerous, but how we apply it is where the dangers begin to come in, if companies begin using data mining to correlate personal information then clearly we have every reason to be concerned.