Department of Philosophy

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Browsing Department of Philosophy by browse.metadata.advisor "de Villiers-Botha, Tanya"

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    Nowhere to hide: an ethical evaluation of how big data aggregation violates privacy (and what we should do about it)
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Smith, James Warren; de Villiers-Botha, Tanya; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Data aggregation involves merging different kinds of data into a single dataset and analysing this data together to retrieve patterns that might exist between this data and in so doing reveals novel information on the subjects of the data. Analysing aggregated data is referred to as aggregation-knowledge discovery in databases (A-KDD). Data aggregation has become popular in Big Data analysis as it allows for more and more complex information to be retrieved from otherwise innocuous data points. This thesis argues that data aggregation can result in unique violations of privacy that can have a negative impact on the individual and social wellbeing of a data subject. To make this argument, time is spent unpacking the concept of privacy and its value in liberal democratic societies. Following this, a description of big data and data aggregation is given. Once these terms are cashed out and understood, A-KDD is shown to result in violations of privacy on two accounts. In cases where the well-being of an individual is potentially decreased due to A-KDD revealing unknown information on a person, it is considered unjustifiable, and thus constitutes a (morally problematic) violation of privacy. In cases where A-KDD attempts to access unknown information without the consent of a data subject, it is also considered unjustifiable and thus constitutes a (morally problematic) violation of privacy. The thesis closes with suggestions on how A-KDD might be regulated to ensure the privacy violations of the practice are mitigated.