Social Network Privacy: Issues and Measurement

Social networks are becoming pervasive in todays world. Millions of people worldwide are involved in different form of online networking, with Facebook being one of the most popular sites. Online networks allow individuals to connect with friends and family, and share their private information. One of the reasons for the popularity of virtual communities is the perception of benefits received from the community. However, problems with privacy and security of the users information may also occur, especially when members are not aware of the risks of posting sensitive information on a social network. Members of social networking sites could become victims of identity theft, physical or online stalking and embarrassment as a consequence of malicious manipulation of their profiles data. Although networking sites often provide features for privacy settings, a high percentage of users neither know nor change their privacy preferences. This situation brings to consideration about many important aspects of social network privacy, such as what are the privacy issues in social networks? what are common privacy threats or risks in social networks? how privacy can be measured in a meaningful way? and how to empower users with knowledge to make correct decisions when selecting privacy settings? The goal of this paper is twofold. First, we discuss potential risks and attacks of social network site users privacy. Second, we present the measurement and quantification of the social privacy, along with solutions for privacy protection.