Privacy, Data Harvesting, and You

Book excerpt: One of the most widespread online practices today is data harvesting, the collection of users, personal data and information about their activities. Data harvesting raises significant issues about the right to privacy. This informative narrative explains what data harvesting and data mining are and how they are carried out. The importance of privacy is covered, as well as two of the most common applications of data harvesting and data mining: the selling of products and services, and the influencing of people's attitudes toward political issues. Teens learn ways that they can safeguard their data to protect their privacy.