Privacy in spatiotemporal data mining

Privacy is an essential requirement for the provision of electronic and knowledgebased services in modern e-business, e-commerce, e-government, and e-health environments. Nowadays, service providers can easily track individuals' actions, behaviors, and habits. Given large data collections of person-specific information, providers can mine data to learn patterns, models, and trends that can be used to provide personalized services. The potential benefits of data mining are substantial, but it is evident that the collection and analysis of sensitive personal data arouses concerns about citizens' privacy, confidentiality, and freedom. © Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2008