Data-Mining and Analytics: Rising Concerns over Privacy and People’s Security

Developments in data science like data-mining and analytics have also become the catchwords raising concerns of those engaged with the question of privacy infringements and state surveillance. The mere idea of an individual’s privacy being sold out to the corporates for customized advertisements and commercial micro-targeting is in itself disturbing as one’s personal information is being commodified, but then it is relatively harmless. The situation becomes dangerous and poses a threat when analytics pushes the limit further and engages in predicting the activities of the people such as electoral behaviour and employs tools of political micro-targeting to manipulate the electorate. The paper attempts to evaluate the potential threats to individual privacy and security when data-mining and analytics are clubbed with artificial-intelligence-powered election campaigns, surveillance mechanisms, warfare strategies and so on.