Mo' Data, Mo' Problems? Personal Data Mining and the Challenge to the Data Mnimization Principle

This paper is about how the concept of personal data mining, a term used to explain the individual use of dynamic data processing techniques to find hidden patterns and trends in large amounts of personal data, challenges the concept of data minimization. It is an attempt to demonstrate that fair information principles like data minimization, while providing a useful starting point for data protection laws, must give way to more nuanced legal rules and models. It stresses that a shift of paradigms from the current paternalistic approach to handling personal towards an empowered-user approach is needed in order to better protect privacy in light of recent advancements in technology.