Social Semantic Network-Based Access Control

Social networks are the basis of the so called Web 2.0, raising many new challenges to the research community. In particular, the ability of these networks to allow the users to share their own personal information with other people opens new issues concerning privacy and access control. Nowadays the Web has further evolved into the Social Semantic Web where social networks are integrated and enhanced by the use of semantic conceptual models, e.g., the ontologies, where the social information and links among the users become semantic information and links. In this paper, we discuss which are the benefits of introducing semantics in social network-based access control. In particular, we analyze and detail two approaches to manage the access rights of the social network users relying on Semantic Web languages only, and we highlight, thanks to these two proposals, what are pros and cons of introducing semantics in social networks access control. Finally, we report on the other existing approaches coupling semantics and access control in the context of social networks. Serena Villata INRIA, Sophia Antipolis, France, e-mail: [email protected] Luca Costabello INRIA, Sophia Antipolis, France e-mail: [email protected] Fabien Gandon INRIA, Sophia Antipolis, France e-mail: [email protected] Catherine Faron-Zucker I3S, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis CNRS, France e-mail: [email protected] Michel Buffa I3S, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis CNRS, France e-mail: [email protected]