In this tech-obsessed day and age, there is no such thing as true security, unless you have no digital footprint whatsoever and live entirely off the grid. A smartphone, a laptop, an online shopping account, all of these things leave users vulnerable to data mining. The viewpoints in this resource debate data mining and whether it's a danger to society or, ultimately, a boon that will only help our technology-driven world grow more efficient. Readers will learn about the benefits of data mining as well as the pitfalls that come with security breaches.

Data brokers know all about you /Lois Beckett -- Big data has the potential to discriminate / Jason Furman and Tim Simcoe -- Data surveillance is all around us, and it will change our behavior / Uri Gal -- Surveillance can go too far / National Coalition against Censorship -- Corporate cybersnooping is a big business / Stephanie Simon and Josh Gerstein -- Data can improve city life / William Echikson -- Big data can make a company more efficient / World Economic Forum -- Data collection will improve health care / Carol McDonald -- Big data failed to predict the flu / Adam Kucharski -- Big data helps determine our leaders / Teradata India -- Government surveillance is a failure / Rachel Levinson-Waldman -- Data mining won't stop terrorism, but it is one step closer to the police state / American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts -- Big data can help predict crimes / H.V. Jagadish -- Data mining can be discriminatory / Jeremy Kun -- Anyonymity on the internet / Mary Madden and Lee Rainie.