How has privacy awareness affected privacy behavior of social networking site users - Dissertation Example

? CHAPTER 4: PRIVACY PROTECTION The fourth chapter of the research is concerned with on privacy protection of the information that users of social networks disclose on the sites. The chapter therefore aims at answering sub-question 2 which is intended to find out the relationship that the awareness of social networking users on privacy matters and how it is related to privacy protection. The data that is analyzed in this chapter was also obtained from the Pew Internet Group. Qualitative data from the Pew Internet Group is thus presented in this chapter specifically in relation to the issue privacy awareness of social networking sites with a view of determining how it is related to privacy protection. The analysis revolves around four questions that the respondents of the survey answered on matters of privacy awareness and protection. Comparative analysis as a methodological approach to scientific research was used to compare, interpret and analyze the results with secondary sources of information on this topic. The analysis of the results of the asked questions was aimed at extracting similarities and differences between the findings of the survey and the information contained within secondary sources of information. Therefore both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies are appropriate and applicable in the analysis of the acquired data in relation to the content within secondary data. The first question on privacy protection aimed at finding out if users of social networking sites restricted the access that other users had into their full profiles. This question focused on determining whether users would protect their profiles from access of individuals who were not their friends. The results if the survey is presented on table 6 below which are followed by an analytical discussion of the data with a comparative analysis with secondary sources of information. The findings of the analysis are also provided in this section. Table 6: Restrict Access to Full profile The results of the survey as presented on table 6 above illustrate that 60% of the social networking site users restrict access to their full profiles. This figure which represents the majority of the users demonstrates that the social networking sites provide the users with the capability of restricting their profiles so that it is only their friends have unrestricted access. Most of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Frienster have setting that enables the users to change the accessibility that they prefer to provide into their profiles (Debatin and Lovejoy, 2009). The use of the settings for restricting access to user profiles is determined by the awareness of the users to its existence. Since majority of the users demonstrate that they restrict access to their profiles, then it is evident that awareness of the users to privacy protection is high among social networking site users. From the results of the survey, it is notable that a significant 36% of social networking site users do not restrict access to their full profiles while only 2% who do not know whether they have restricted access or not. Facebook ranks highest among social networking sites in privacy protection because its default settings for protecting the privacy of user information are relatively adequate (Hann, et al., 2003). Additionally, Facebook provides users with a choice of determining what information within their profiles can be restricted to friends and which would be accessed by the public. On the other hand, MySpace provides users with the choice of determining the access of their full profile but unlike Facebook, the site’s privacy protection dialog box is less friendly to the user and thus hard to identify (Al Falahi, Atif and Elnaffar, 2010). This explains the large number of users who have not restricted access to their profile. The results thus can be explained by the lack of knowledge of users of the privacy protection function and settings within their profiles. The secondary data is thus similar to the findings of the survey because it provides qualitative information which confirms the quantitative data obtained in the course of the survey. However, (Jones and Soltren, 2005) argues that Facebook does not provide adequate measures for the privacy protection of user information because third parties such as advertisers have been able to access user information and use it for their own ends. The second question on privacy protection during the survey was aimed at determining if users of social networking sites restricted the access of individual information on their walls such as photographs and wall posts. The results of the survey on this question are presented on Table Seven. Secondary information sources are used to interpret and analyze the data in so that similarities and differences between the two sets of data are determined. Table 1: Limit who can see Certain Information The results of the survey demonstrate that 58% of user of social networking sites limits the access of specific information on their wall. This is achieved through the Facebook settings on privacy. The default settings that social networking sites provide for their users are not sufficient in ensuring adequate privacy of information. Moreover most social networking sites usually discourage the online communities from altering the default settings which are provided by the administrator (Krishnamurthy and Wills, 2010). These points of view can be used to explain the 39% of users who do not restrict access to their wall. As a result the information, posts and photos that users post on their walls can be viewed by individuals within the online communities including those who are not Facebook friends or Twitter followers. The analysis of the survey findings reveals similarities with secondary data. However it is argued that some social networking site users are aware of the privacy protection that can be afforded within their walls and decide to ignore it (Liu and Terzi, 2010). Therefore some of the users of social networking sites who do not limit the access to the information on their wall would be aware of the security settings within these sites and yet do not make use of them. The site administrators of most social networking sites recommend specified default settings for the users (McGrath, 2011). The recommended settings are often unaltered and thus make users of these sites vulnerable to infringement of privacy of information and images which they post on their walls. Therefore it can be argued that the 39% of users from the survey who did not restrict access to information on their wall would have assumed that the settings that the site administrators recommended for them are adequate in protecting their privacy to information. The social networking sites such as MySpace are misleading to their users and therefore make them to think that the recommended settings are sufficient in protecting information on their wall from unintended access (Warfel, 2008). As a result of the misleading privacy settings third parties are enabled to access user information and use it for malicious intentions. It is common within social networking sites such as Facebook for stalkers to access walls of users and acquires information about these individuals which they use for their advantage. Therefore it can be deducted that the privacy policies of social networking sites and the settings they recommend for the users are less sensitive to the privacy protection of information of users within their walls. In return, this has led to unwanted social consequences such as stolen identities. The third question in the survey was aimed at determining the ease with which it was for users of social networking sites t identify people from their profile with the results being presented in Table 8 below. How easy do you think it would be for someone to find out who you are from your profile on a social networking web site Percentage It would be pretty easy 43 They would have to work at it but they could figure it out eventually 33 It would be very difficult for someone to find out who you are from your profile 20 Don’t know 3 Refused * Table 2: How Easy Would It Be To Identify a Person from a Profile Majority of users as revealed by the study assert that it is very easy for someone to be identified from a social networking site profile. The 43% of users who say that it would be easy to identify someone and the 33% who asserted that it needed time to eventually identify someone show that it is generally easy to determine who someone is from a social networking site. The similarity of these findings with secondary information sources is demonstrated by the assertion that users provide social networking sites with vast amounts of information including photographs which makes it easy to be identified by others (Baden, et al., 2009). additionally, it is argued that social networking sites recommend that users give their actual names and photographs on their profiles which makes it easy for a third party to identify them. The forth question that the survey presented the respondents with yielded qualitative and quantitative data on reasons why users decided to subscribe to more than one profile within the various websites. 24% of users who represented the majority of the respondents said that they were subscribed to more than one profile because they wanted to be in touch with their friends who used diverse sites. 19% of the respondents of the survey said that they had various profiles for different purposes such as friendship and work relationships. It is also argued that many people within online communities have many profiles within the dating sites because of their desire to create social relationships (Debatin and Lovejoy, 2009). The results of the survey are congruent with the secondary data that is used to analyze the phenomenon of privacy protection within social networking sites because it is proved that many people have different profiles for varying reasons (Liu and Terzi, 2010). CHAPTER 5: UNAUTHORIZED USE The fifth chapter of the research is focused on an investigation of unauthorized use of information within social networking sites. This chapter is in line with the goals which sub-section 4 of the research aims at accomplishing. This is to determine how the awareness of users on privacy has influenced their concern about unauthorized access and use of their personal information on the social networking sites. The four questions that guided the research were obtained from the data presented by a survey by the Pew Internet Group. In the analysis of the data, secondary information sources were used with a view of comparing them with the survey findings for similarities and differences. The data and its analysis are presented in tabular form in the following sections. The first question of the survey was focused at finding out if users of social networking sites could be concerned if the companies of the sites kept a copy of their personal information regardless of their attempt to delete them. Table 9 below presents the results obtained from the survey on this issue. Would you be concerned if companies that provide social networking kept a copy of your files even if you try to delete them Percentage Very concerned 64 Somewhat concerned 20 Not too concerned 8 Not at all concerned 8 Don’t know * Refused * Table 3: Concerned if Companies Kept a Copy of Your Files The results illustrates that 64% of the users that were interviewed during the survey were very concerned if the companies kept a copy of their files. These findings are parallel to the secondary data which show that most users within social networking sites are aware of privacy issues and would be very concerned if personal information on them was kept even after they delete their profiles (Mohamed, 2010). Among the respondents, 20% were not too concerned with only 8 percent being unconcerned if files on them were kept by the companies of the sites. It is argued that individuals who disclose larger amounts of information on social networks are more concerned if the companies of these sites keep the information even after the accounts are deleted (Caldwell, 2009). The results of the survey illustrate that 92% of respondents showed concern in different degrees if files on them were kept against their will. The results thus confirms that the vast amount of information that users of social networking sites disclose makes them concerned that it would be used for unintended reasons after they delete these accounts. The survey findings demonstrate that users fear that their personal information would be used without their authority even after their user accounts or profiles are deleted. The second question on unauthorized use of information within social networks was aimed at finding the concern of users if their information and photographs were used for marketing campaigns. The findings of the survey are presented on Table 11 below. How concerned would you be if companies that provide social networking used your photos and other information in marketing campaigns? Percentage Very concerned 80 Somewhat concerned 10 Not too concerned 3 Not at all concerned 6 Don’t know .5 Refused .5 Table 4: Concerned Information Use in Marketing Campaigns From the results of the survey, it is evident that a majority of users would be concerned if the marketing campaigns used their personal information as demonstrated by 80% of the respondents who would be very concerned and the 10% who would somewhat be concerned. Facebook and MySpace have recorded unauthorized use of user information by third parties such as advertisers who access emails of users and send them promotional information without their consent (Debatin and Lovejoy, 2009). The results of the survey thus reveal that social networking sites have exposed the users to unauthorized use of their personal information which has created a lot of concern among these users. The third question that respondents of the survey were asked aimed at determining the degree of their concern if adverts were presented to them through the interpretation of information on them within the social networks. The findings are presented in Table 12 below. How concerned would you be if companies that provide social networking services analyzed your information and then displayed ads to you that are based on what you have in those files? Percentage Very concerned 68 Somewhat concerned 19 Not too concerned 6 Not at all concerned 7 Don’t know * Refused * Table 5: Concerned if Display Ads based on Personal Content The survey findings demonstrate that 68% of users would be very concerned if their personal information was analyzed and focused advertisements sent to them. The concern among users declined when compared to the disclosure of information to third parties for marketing purposes. However, the level of concern is high which shows that users of social network sites usually feel uncomfortable when their personal information is used without their authority or consent (Schulman, Ronca & Bucuvalas, Inc. 2007). The fourth question of the survey focused on investigating the level of concern that users of social networks would have if information on them was sold to third parties. The results are presented on Table 13 below. How concerned would you be if companies that provide social networking services sold your files to others? Percentage Very concerned 90 Somewhat concerned 5 Not too concerned 2 Not at all concerned 3 Don’t know * Refused * Table 6: Concerned if Companies Sold Files to Others The results of the survey illustrate that 90% of users of the social networking sites would be very concerned if information on them was sold to others by the social networking site companies. The concern is attributed to the fact that users consider selling of their personal information by companies to third parties as an attempt to make use of this information without their authority and for reasons that they did not intend for (Mohamed, 2010). It is however argued that Facebook has not sold any of the user information to third parties (Baden, et al., 2009). The information that advertisers acquire from MySpace is caused by lack of adequate information privacy protection and thus the information is not sold to them buy the social networking company. CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH CHAPTERS The user patterns of social networking sites as described in chapter three was determined through the use of secondary sources of information to analyze the results obtained by the Pew Internet Group survey. Majority of users of the social networks have only one profile within a single site and subscription on one site was common. However a significant percentage of users were subscribed to more than one site with multiple profiles within these sites. The analytical discussion of the survey results revealed that users were subscribed to more than one profile to cater for their professional and social networking needs. A majority of social networking sites (60%) restrict their profiles by limiting access so that only their friends are allowed to view them. These results that the Pew internet Group presented through their survey was compared with secondary sources of information with an aim of determining the privacy awareness among users and its impact on the restriction of access to their profiles. The restrictions that users impose on access to their profiles are attributed to the awareness among online communities about the protection of their information from infringement of privacy. The analysis of the survey findings also found out that a significant number of users did not provide security restrictions to the access of their profile. The limited restrictions of access to profiles and walls of users are explained by the fact that the settings that social networking sites recommend for their users do not protect them adequately from privacy violations. The unauthorized use of social networking user information was studied through an investigative analysis of the survey presented by the Pew Internet Group. The questions which guided the research were focused on determining the level or degree into which users were concerned if their personal information was used for marketing or sold to third parties. A larger percentage showed concern for unauthorized use of their personal information. The concern that users have for the unauthorized use of their personal information is attributed awareness that they have for the implications that would result from such use. 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