data mining

noun

|Updated on: 28 Jul 2018

Definition of data mining

: the practice of searching through large amounts of computerized data to find useful patterns or trends

Recent Examples of data mining from the Web

Facebook gave generous user data access to third-party app developers for years, which created a situation in which tens of millions of people had their personal information packaged and sold to a data mining firm without proper consent.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Google tries to calm controversy over app developers having access to your Gmail," 3 July 2018
The programs focused on a range of capabilities, including information analysis, decision-support tools, language translation, data mining, and pattern recognition.

— renee diresta, WIRED, "How the Tech Giants Created What Darpa Couldn’t," 29 May 2018
Last month, it was revealed that the personal information of more than 87 million Facebook users was shared with data mining and political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, sparking uproar among the public and lawmakers alike.

— jamie ducharme, Fortune, "Mark Zuckerberg Is in the Hot Seat Again. Watch Day 2 of His Congressional Testimony Live," 11 Apr. 2018
The federal investigation into data mining firm Cambridge Analytica and its relationship to Facebook has been expanded to include an examination into the social network itself, according to a report from The Washington Post.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Federal investigators want to know if Facebook lied about Cambridge Analytica," 2 July 2018
Before data mining was the preferred extractive industry of the Santa Clara Valley, mineral extraction built one of the region’s earliest variations of the company town.

— ingrid burrington, The Atlantic, "Who Gets to Live in Silicon Valley?," 25 June 2018
Our lives are turned into a profit source through data mining.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full transcript: Corey Pein, author of ‘Live Work Work Work Die,’ on Recode Decode," 13 June 2018
Cantrell went on to explain the initiative: data mining on a vast scale, with the potential for unprecedented surveillance, control, and identification.

— renee diresta, WIRED, "How the Tech Giants Created What Darpa Couldn’t," 29 May 2018
All that data mining has given some Americans pause.

— ronda kaysen, New York Times, "Is My Not-So-Smart House Watching Me?," 27 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'data mining.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of data mining

1968

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Financial Definition of DATA MINING

data mining

noun

What It Is

Data mining refers to the systematic software analysis of groups of data in order to uncover previously unknown patterns and relationships.

How It Works

So called because of the manner in which it explores information, data mining is carried out by software applications which employ a variety of statistical and artificial intelligence methods to uncover hidden patterns and relationships among sets of data. For instance, a data mining program might be able to uncover a relationship between high sales volumes and poor weather conditions.

Why It Matters

Data mining software is able to perform complex calculations and analyses on sets of data in a very short time. For this reason, data mining is used by companies in strategic planning.

Source: Investing Answers