Editing Data mining (section)

===Situation in the United States===

In the United States, privacy concerns have been addressed by the [[US Congress]] via the passage of regulatory controls such as the [[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act]] (HIPAA). The HIPAA requires individuals to give their "informed consent" regarding information they provide and its intended present and future uses. According to an article in ''Biotech Business Week'', "'[i]n practice, HIPAA may not offer any greater protection than the longstanding regulations in the research arena,' says the AAHC. More importantly, the rule's goal of protection through informed consent is approach a level of incomprehensibility to average individuals."<ref>Biotech Business Week Editors (June 30, 2008); ''BIOMEDICINE; HIPAA Privacy Rule Impedes Biomedical Research'', Biotech Business Week, retrieved 17 November 2009 from LexisNexis Academic</ref> This underscores the necessity for data anonymity in data aggregation and mining practices.

U.S. information privacy legislation such as HIPAA and the [[Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act]] (FERPA) applies only to the specific areas that each such law addresses. The use of data mining by the majority of businesses in the U.S. is not controlled by any legislation.