User Awareness Regarding Privacy Settings in Social Media Sites - Facebook/ Orkut

In the article “Facebook Is Using You,” Lori Andrews describes the damaging consequences of corporations collecting and selling personal information retrieved from internet users. She explains how this information is often used to create personalized advertisements and while seemingly harmless may have negative implications on internet users’ employability, legal battles or ability to receive credit (552).

The privacy of human being has drastically changed with the advent of internet. On a scale of 1 to 10, the privacy of an internet user is a -1 or may be less. Social Networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace etc are mainly responsible for this privacy leakage. This short paper is dedicated to review the change of privacy policy by Facebook on December 2009 and its impact on public privacy and security.

"We collect the content and other information you provide when you use our Services, including when you sign up for an account, create or share, and message or communicate with others” (Hachman). Each day people live with a false security that they are protected and maintain a sense of privacy. Citizens misplace their trust in social media and technology, and divulge their personal information in ignorance of the repercussions that may arise. Users say the advances in technology and social media will not affect their privacy; however, it is proven that these advances can be a harbinger of both danger and discontent.

There is a rising dominance of social media sites that allows users lives to become increasingly transparent. With full information about ones activities available for everyone to see, it blurs the line between personal and impersonal information. Personal information like where you were, and your private life information are now things that everyone feels free to share, and by doing so dismantling the boundaries of personal information.

An example of one of these social media websites is FaceBook, or FakeBook. I actually have an account on this site but I don’t post my whole life on there, I occasionally will post a photo or like stupid pictures, but nothing too personal. However, my cousin, will post everyday of her life on there, including here whereabouts that day.

Social Media is a current way in which people are using to interact with one another daily. Since the launch of various Social Networking Sites (SNS) its been a huge attraction in a new way to share information with others and correspond with interests of your choice in many different forms. Although social media sites allow users to share information with friends and other sites on the internet, many people are unaware of how their privacy is getting out. Now that the expansion of global connection through these social media networking sites are so highly present in todays society, giving us easy access to information, the lack of one's privacy is being diminished. Everyday peoples privacy rights are

In “Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck: Exposure” danah boyd reveals the faults of Facebook and how it affects the actions of its users. boyd observes that when users have access to a privacy feature they feel freer to post and comment as they please. When we are in pubic we acclimate to our surroundings and then choose how to we talk and what we share. boyd points out that normally each users actions were not overly obvious until an update to its system that caused the each user to get notifications each time they logged in based on their friends actions. This generated a new problem where the users had to really question and think about what they posted and shared on Facebook knowing that everyone could interpret their actions differently.

Social media has changed the way society communicates and shares information becoming a routine activity integrated in our daily lives, yet the issue of privacy managing remains. “Privacy” in perception to online activities involves the right or consent to personal privacy in spite of this it is still a concern that cannot be dismissed in this digital era. Unfortunately, many web users do not sufficiently comprehend how much of their data is maintained, as a result, they may be more open with what they share. Adam Levin’s article Privacy Is Dead: What You Still Can Do to Protect Yourself published in The Huffington Post speaks to the growing millennial generation and alludes them as “easily-hackable”.

Consider the last status you posted to Facebook, the latest tweet on Twitter, and the last search you made in Google, and think, what is the common factor between the three? The answer is that each time you upload a picture, like a status, or search for something online, your audience is much larger than one would anticipate. Completely unaware to us, every click of the keyboard we make, leaves a trail of electronic footprints for companies and unsavory individuals to follow, gathering a plethora of information into every aspect of our lives. Until recently, privacy was not a major issue of concern. However, in recent years with the rise of the internet, ease of access, and growth of mobile technology, individual and societal awareness of the topic have made it a matter of concern. Therefore, throughout this paper we will not only define privacy

Facebook is a well know social networking site that has taken all over the world with over 500 million people using the site. Social networking sites such as Facebook share information about the user over the Internet, where it can be freely accessed by anyone. This is where issues of privacy to the individual arise. As

As technology advances, social media websites such as Facebook have grown and become a platform for over 1.7 billion users around the world. Facebook may be used for many individuals to display their life on the internet through pictures and word statuses to connect with others. Being a part of many people 's lives, Facebook opens a controversial topic about how some employers during job interviews will ask for a prospective employee 's Facebook username and password. Many Facebook users may find this to be an invasion of privacy, but companies may find this to be a way of protecting the company 's reputation. Employers should not be allowed to ask for prospective employees Facebook passwords because under the Fourth and First Amendment the employer 's rights may be violated.

Privacy is often defined as freedom from the observation, intrusion, or attention of others. If that was taken away from daily life the world would become a collection of omniscient beings that walk around with potentially harmful information about those surrounding them. Stalking would be unnecessary because the internet would do all for the work for us. Social networking sites are creating many such concerns. One of the most widely known social networking sites is Facebook. When reviewing Facebook’s privacy policy, you may want to keep in mind that “an examination of Facebook's privacy policy shows that the informedchoicemodel is completely unrealistic” (Grimmelmann).Facebook not only helps our friends learn more about our daily life,

People should expect no privacy when it comes to their online activities. Companies like Facebook, Myspace and Google collect data on their users and sell it to advertisers. Advertisers then begin targeting social media users who match their profiles with online ads. As a user of social media, I often do online research on a particular topic or item I’m looking to buy to compare features and learn more about it. The next time I check my yahoo mail account, the side banner advertisements have all the items that I’ve recently searched online. It’s creepy. Social media users seem to have a false sense of privacy because it feels somewhat anonymous. It is anything but anonymous. Even the government is involved in monitoring the activities of internet users, especially social networking sites like Facebook. Consumers are willing to post personal information, photos, use their credit cards on ‘secure sites’ and by doing so, they are allowing their information to be data mined. Emails are not private either and can be mined for personal data to steal or advertising to target what we discuss in emails (Lawrence & Weber, 2014). What really frightens me is the staying power of our online identities. As teenagers and young adults fill their social media accounts with raucous pictures and rebellious statements, they don’t realize that potential employers and universities will have access to the foolishness of their youth. Expect no privacy and be cautious of what you post because it

Yet, social media has changed our comprehension of relationships and personal information, making it difficult for online users to disclose their private data without being in risk, to identify whom to trust online without deception, to keep information secret without spying and hacking.

The emergence and evolution of social media have a significant impact on modern society. Facebook, in particular, with its different features developed by advanced technology, has raised a concern about privacy despite its convenience. There have been various researches into this issue, focusing on different aspects of the problem. However, in this report, only five studies will be discussed. These studies do not only present a brief overview of the issue, but also highlight new aspects. Each research is undertaken with a clear perspective and appropriate method, allowing readers to form a picture of the main idea related to privacy issue. This report is going to review four key features of these articles, including the techniques that the authors employ, their research problems and questions, the role of previous literature in their studies and their major findings. The similarities and differences between the authors’ approaches will also be discussed.