Information Behavior Issue

The ethics of web data mining has only recently emerged as a major concern for issues of privacy and individuality . One of the most critical issues raised in recent scholarship involves the data 's intended and ultimate use . According to van Wel and Royakkers , consent for the collection and use of personal information is often non-existent since the individual is not even aware of such activity (2004 ,

. 129 These author 's distinctions between `content and structure mining ' and `usage mining ' are important distinctions which need to be more clearly defined and

modeled (van Wel Royakkers , 2004 ,

. 130 . Van Wel and Royakkers ' inference that , if web users saw more benefits of web data mining , the dangers would be mitigated is extremely short-sighted and is an area clearly needing further research and improvement

Freedom of speech includes the rights to communicate personal , ethical and sociopolitical information without a fear of retaliatory reprisals Van Wel and Royakkers ' argument for the rights of anonymity in such information 's content , however , is at best napve and at worst , illusory By posting data on the Internet in the form of information blogs tutorials , and articles , the author pre-supposes a public venue and , as such , should expect the embedded information to be used by readers around the world in this area , copyright ethics continues to struggle as well . For this reason , ethical distinctions need to be made between personal data and freedom of expression . Ethical concerns such as de-individualization can contribute to socioeconomic , political , and...