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Conclusions

  Data mining technology provides a whole new way of exploiting large databases. In the wrong hands, this can be a problem. However, it is not the tools themselves, but the combination of tools and data that pose a problem. The obvious solution is to restrict access to data.

Restricting access to data is a tradeoff, however. One of the advantages of database and network technology is the ability to share data, improving the efficiency of inter-organization operations. We do not want the threat of data mining ``by the wrong people'' to eliminate these efficiencies.

We believe that there is an intermediate solution. We can have the efficiency gains of shared data without ``giving away the store''. This requires carefully controlling access to the data (or controlling the quality of the data) so as to provide the desired sharing without providing the ability to mine the data.

We have presented some ideas for how to control access, as well as areas for further work. We will continue to work in this area, and hope that others will find this an interesting problem as well.



Christopher W Clifton
Fri Aug 23 13:26:29 EDT 1996