Social Networking Sites: a threat to our Privacy?
Posted in Uncategorized on April 13, 2008
Social Networking Sites: a threat to our Privacy Proposal for research to be carried out April- May 2008
Update: View the research paper on social networking sites
This research project aims to explore the reasons why students choose to use social networking sites, yet make so much personal information, such as name, date of birth, and even contact details for example e-mail address and phone numbers visible for anyone to read. Facebook and MySpace are popular social network sites among students. Therefore this research project will focus primarily on these sites. The key foci of this research are to: i) Identify how many students within the University of Hull have personal identifiable information about them which is viewable and ii) Take a sample of students and perform an in-depth analysis of why they have or have not chosen to make information about them visible.
Background
With the introduction of the Internet and in particular, the world wide web, people have sought ways to communicate with one another and make new ‘friends’ over greater distances. According to an article by Marc Cieslak;
In recent years the interaction between web-users has grown dramatically, spawning a new generation of networking sites. The notion of Web 2.0…where content is created and shared by users has given birth to some of the most popular sites the internet has ever seen. So much so, that anybody who is anyone wants to be part of the online social networking scene.
Furthermore the idea of privacy in social network could be described as a paradox; because information about you is shared with other members of the network thus there is little or no privacy.
Correspondingly, in Howard Rheingold’s book, Smart Mobs, he identifies that social networking sites are places of information; “Every time someone interacts with another person, there is the potential to exchange information…The structure of everyone’s links to everyone else in a network that acts as a channel through which news, job tips, possible romantic partners”(2002, 56).
With the notion of information available to other people it brings risks to social networking sites. These risks include cyber-stalking, where individuals can view their victims’ profile and access information, such as their e-mail address and telephone numbers and harass or contact their victims in an unsolicited manner. Additionally with social networks there is the threat of identity theft, “It is not just the average net user who is a fan of social network sites, so are hi-tech criminals.” (Ward, 2008) criminals use social networking sites to gain personal information off victims’ profiles. David Porter, head of security and risk at Detica, stated “It is remarkable that people use social networking websites to publish details about their lives, loves, jobs and hobbies to the entire world that they would not dream of sharing with a stranger in a bar…Such data is invaluable to identity fraudsters.” (Ward, 2008)
Both Facebook and MySpace have privacy features on their sites. MySpace has the option to set your profile private, so that only your ‘friends’ can view your profile. In contrast, in Facebook, your profile is only accessible to your ‘friends’ and to those on the network you subscribe to (Facebook is a collection of networks). Additionally on Facebook, there are options to make contact details on your profile visible to everyone, only friends or no-one.
Why the project is required?
The research is relevant because social networking sites are popular with students, and the information that is viewable could be used for malicious purposes, this research will highlight if students are aware of the risks connected with personal information
Similar Research
Similar research, Facebook: Threats to Privacy, by Harvey Jones, Jos´e Hiram Soltren, was undertaken in 2005. This research was performed on American students on four universities; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Oklahoma, New York University, and Harvard University. One of the outcomes of their research shows that the majority of users surveyed were “somewhat” concerned about their privacy on Facebook, whilst the minority were very concerned about their privacy on Facebook.
This research will see if there are any similar findings with students at the University of Hull.
Research Question and Basic Hypothesis
The research revolves around if Social Networks are threat to our Privacy? Or is it not the students that are a threat to themselves? The majority students within the university have personal viewable and they do not regard their privacy when using social networking sites. Using the Project Aims & Objectives and methodology, the research will prove or disprove this hypothesis.
Project Aim & Objectives
The aim of this research is to understand why students have personal identifiable information on their profiles and whether they are aware of the risk of not protecting their privacy.
The objects of the research
· Investigate how many students have personal information viewable on their MySpace and Facebook profiles
· Investigate if students are aware of privacy issues and why (if) they have personal information viewable (by means of semi-structured interviews)
· Produce any necessary recommendations to students regarding privacy drawn from conclusions of analysing the results of the interviews
Programme Methodology
This research will utilize a mixed methodology. The initial part of the research, will involve viewing 100 students of the University of Hull Profiles. 50 profiles that are on the University of Hull group on MySpace and 50 profiles on the University Of Hull network on Facebook and recording how many of these profiles have personally identifiable information: full name, contact details and date of birth viewable. None of the details found will be recorded; only the statistics of how many have information viewable and the results will be recorded into charts.
The next stage of the research involves undertaking semi-structured interviews with 10 students to gain an understanding why they have or not put personal details or if they have their profiles set as private and the reasons for doing so. The interview will take part in Web Chat format, with 10 minutes for each interview. Using web chat format is used because recording the results is simpler in addition most students use messenger applications, so they are more likely to respond in an environment that they are familiar rather than say person to person interview.
References
Cieslak, M., ‘Rise of the web’s social network’ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/5391258.stm>2006 (accessed 5.03.08)
Jones, H., Soltren, J, ‘Facebook: Threats to Privacy’< http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-805Fall-2005/8EE6D1CB-A269-434E-BEF9-D5C4B4C67895/0/facebook.pdf>2005 (accessed 1.03.08)
Rheingold, H., 2002: Smart Mobs: the next Social Revolution (United States of America: Basic Books)
Ward, M., ‘Cyber thieves target social sites’ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7156541.stm>2008(accessed 5.03.08)
Bibliography
Barnes, S., ‘A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United States’ <http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/index.html>2006 (accessed 5.03.08)
Cieslak, M., ‘Rise of the web’s social network’ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/5391258.stm>2006 (accessed 5.03.08)
Hargittai, E., ‘Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites’ < http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/hargittai.html>2007 (accessed 5.03.08)
Jones, H., Soltren, J, ‘Facebook: Threats to Privacy’< http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-805Fall-2005/8EE6D1CB-A269-434E-BEF9-D5C4B4C67895/0/facebook.pdf>2005 (accessed 1.03.08)
Mitnick, K.,2002: The Art Of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security (Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc)
Rheingold, H., 2002: Smart Mobs: the next Social Revolution (United States of America: Basic Books)
Ward, M., ‘Cyber thieves target social sites’ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7156541.stm>2008(accessed 5.03.08)
Wasserman, S., Galaskiewicz, J., 1994: Advances in Social Network Analysis: Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (USA: SAGE)
