Must social networking conflict with privacy?

Abstract

Online social networks (OSNs) have serious privacy drawbacks, some of which stem from the business model. Must this be? Is the current OSN business model the only viable one? Or can we construct alternatives that are technically and economically feasible?

An efficient approach of improving privacy and security in online social networks

“…7,10 • Mainly those solutions suggest the OSNs architecture need to be changed. 7,10 • Mainly those solutions suggest the OSNs architecture need to be changed.…”

“…However, users must know that in fact service provider has the power to confidently benefit from sharing this information; and that simply because users are NOT CUSTOMERS, the ad service buyer is the customer, users are commodity. 7 Furthermore, a recent study reported that "a key factor that undermines privacy for Facebook users is the amount of information they disclose on their profiles." Additionally, some OSN user profiles are crawled by search engines, which make them (user profiles) visible to others who are not members (have no account) of the OSN.…”

“…7 Using user private information in this kind of process breaks the trust between the user and service provider regardless of the benefits gained. 7 Using user private information in this kind of process breaks the trust between the user and service provider regardless of the benefits gained.…”

“…Indeed, some OSNs such as LinkedIn and Google+ require some information to be "publicly visible." 7 Most people are well-intentioned, but they need to be careful about the information they share, how much information they provide and to whom.…”

“…For example, LinkedIn, paid membership can see more information about other users than non-paid (basic) membership. 7 Furthermore, a recent study reported that "a key factor that undermines privacy for Facebook users is the amount of information they disclose on their profiles." Another study showed that while social network users claim that personal privacy is a major concern, "many still posted personal information on their social network account, including their class schedule and home address."…”