The DOI matches its Crossref record; 22 of the 23 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Ethical issues in web data mining
Open accessAbstract
Web mining refers to the whole of data miningand related techniques that are used toautomatically discover and extract informationfrom web documents and services. When used in abusiness context and applied to some type ofpersonal data, it helps companies to builddetailed customer profiles, and gain marketingintelligence. Web mining does, however, pose athreat to some important ethical values likeprivacy and individuality. Web mining makes itdifficult for an individual to autonomouslycontrol the unveiling and dissemination of dataabout his/her private life. To study thesethreats, we distinguish between `content andstructure mining' and `usage mining.' Webcontent and structure mining is a cause forconcern when data published on the web in acertain context is mined and combined withother data for use in a totally differentcontext. Web usage mining raises privacyconcerns when web users are traced, and theiractions are analysed without their knowledge.Furthermore, both types of web mining are oftenused to create customer files with a strongtendency of judging and treating people on thebasis of group characteristics instead of ontheir own individual characteristics and merits(referred to as de-individualisation). Althoughthere are a variety of solutions toprivacy-problems, none of these solutionsoffers sufficient protection. Only a combinedsolution package consisting of solutions at anindividual as well as a collective level cancontribute to release some of the tensionbetween the advantages and the disadvantages ofweb mining. The values of privacy andindividuality should be respected and protectedto make sure that people are judged and treatedfairly. People should be aware of theseriousness of the dangers and continuouslydiscuss these ethical issues. This should be ajoint responsibility shared by web miners (bothadopters and developers), web users, andgovernments.
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“The process of data mining,4 one of the ways algorithms collect and analyse data [88], can already be discriminatory as a start, because it decides which data are of value, which is of no value and its weight—how valuable it is.”
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Cites
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Automatic personalization based on Web usage mining
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Personalization on the Net using Web mining: introduction
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Privacy protection, control of information, and privacy-enhancing technologies
Tavani, H. T., & Moor, J. H. (2001) · ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society · doi:10.1145/572277.572278 · Cited by 210
Research Issues in Web Data Mining
Madria, S., Bhowmick, S. S., Ng, W. K., & Lim, E. (1999) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/3-540-48298-9_32 · Cited by 205
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Linoff, G. S., & Berry, M. J. (2002) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 86
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1 of the 23 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 6
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
The ethics of algorithms: Mapping the debate
Mittelstadt, B. D., Allo, P., Taddeo, M., Wachter, S., & Floridi, L. (2016) · Big Data & Society · doi:10.1177/2053951716679679 · Cited by 4,567
“Van Wel and Royakkers (2004: 133) argue that external identity construction by algorithms is a type of de-individuali-sation, or a ‘‘tendency of judging and treating people on the basis of group characteristics instead of on their own individual characteristics and merit.’’”
InfluentialLearning Analytics: Ethical Issues and Dilemmas
Slade, S., & Prinsloo, P. (2013) · American Behavioral Scientist · doi:10.1177/0002764213479366 · Cited by 1,078
Sindice.com: a document-oriented lookup index for open linked data
Oren, E., Delbru, R., Catasta, M., Richard Cyganiak, A., Stenzhorn, H., & Tummarello, G. (2008) · International Journal of Metadata Semantics and Ontologies · doi:10.1504/ijmso.2008.021204 · Cited by 310
Belenguer, L. (2022) · AI and Ethics · doi:10.1007/s43681-022-00138-8 · Cited by 289
“The process of data mining,4 one of the ways algorithms collect and analyse data [88], can already be discriminatory as a start, because it decides which data are of value, which is of no value and its weight—how valuable it is.”
MethodText Mining in Organizational Research
Kobayashi, V. B., Mol, S. T., Berkers, H., Kismihók, G., & den Hartog, D. D. (2017) · Organizational Research Methods · doi:10.1177/1094428117722619 · Cited by 253
Metadata
- Authors
- van Wel, L., & Royakkers, L.
- Affiliations
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Royakkers, Lambèr
- ORCID
- Royakkers, Lambèr
- Venue
- Ethics and Information Technology
- Published
- 2004-06
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 129-140
- ISSN
- 1388-1957 (ISSN-L)
- 1572-8439
- OpenAlex
- W2149394571
- Cited by
- 143
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 7.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Ethics and Information Technology (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- TU/e Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Web Data Mining and Analysis
- Keywords
- web mining, ethics, privacy, individuality, web content mining, web structure mining, web usage mining, customer profiling, data protection, shared responsibility, fair treatment
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