Privacy in social network sites (SNS): The threats from data mining

This paper explores the potential of data mining as a technique that could be used by malicious data miners to threaten the privacy of SNS users and makes a moral case for the users’ right to privacy. It applies a data mining algorithm to a hypothetical dataset of a sample of individuals from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen to show the ease at which characteristics about the SNS users can be discovered and used in a way that could invade their privacy. It is hoped by exploring the threats from data mining on individuals’ privacy and arguing for users’ right to privacy, the study will raise SNS users’ awareness about the ways in which information that they reveal online can be used by malevolent data miners to harm them and how to operate in SNS safely.