What are the potential security risks associated with allowing users to read data from a database without logging in?

Allowing users to read data from a database without logging in can pose a significant security risk as it opens up the possibility of unauthorized access to sensitive information. To mitigate this risk, it is important to implement proper authentication and authorization mechanisms to ensure that only authenticated users with the necessary permissions can access the data.

// Check if user is logged in before allowing access to database
session_start();

if(!isset($_SESSION['user_id'])) {
    // Redirect to login page or display an error message
    header("Location: login.php");
    exit();
}

// Code to fetch data from database goes here