Summary
Inference is often used in profiling users to make decisions about products that may potentially interest them, their political persuasions to influence their voting, their sexual orientation, or any number of other very personal matters. By correlating multiple datasets, it becomes easier to build a complete picture of a person and it may even be possible to infer things about them that they don’t yet know themselves.
When someone is undecided about which of two products to buy or which political party to vote for, inference then becomes a very powerful tool, but perhaps isn’t entirely ethical. For example, this information can then be used to manipulate their decision with targeted messages based on prior knowledge of what can influence them. It is somewhat Machiavellian.
Inference may also be used in making automated decisions in the hiring process such as to filter CVs. In Europe, it is questionable whether this is legal because you could be unknowingly...
