What Is Privacy?

Since its launch in February 2004, Facebook has grown
from a communication portal for Harvard students to
one of the most trafficked sites on the internet with
many millions of users worldwide. During its short
lifespan, Facebook has attracted much criticism
focused mainly on the issue of privacy. With users
apparently posting data and photos with little
consideration of the potential privacy threats, the
matter of whether privacy is an issue on Facebook
needs addressing. In contrast, the issue to look at
is whether there is such a thing as 'privacy' on
Facebook or whether it has in fact adopted its own
privacy norms. Prior research has shown that
Facebook users are relatively oblivious to the fact
that Facebook poses risks to user privacy and safety.
Displaying large quantities of sensitive data to
millions of unknown users is one sign that a large
number of users are not fully aware of dangers
surrounding the Facebook platform. There are now
growing concerns as to whether the modern privacy
practices of many users are appropriate in a rapidly
changing networked society.

Autorentext

Matthew Myron obtained his BSc in E-Commerce and Internet Systems from the University of Portsmouth, graduating with honours. He is currently a network security engineer protecting some of the leading FTSE100 company infrastrctures. His research interests are primarily in the field of IT security and the future of the internet.

Klappentext

Since its launch in February 2004, Facebook has grown from a communication portal for Harvard students to one of the most trafficked sites on the internet with many millions of users worldwide. During its short lifespan, Facebook has attracted much criticism focused mainly on the issue of privacy. With users apparently posting data and photos with little consideration of the potential privacy threats, the matter of whether privacy is an issue on Facebook needs addressing. In contrast, the issue to look at is whether there is such a thing as 'privacy' on Facebook or whether it has in fact adopted its own privacy norms. Prior research has shown that Facebook users are relatively oblivious to the fact that Facebook poses risks to user privacy and safety. Displaying large quantities of sensitive data to millions of unknown users is one sign that a large number of users are not fully aware of dangers surrounding the Facebook platform. There are now growing concerns as to whether the modern privacy practices of many users are appropriate in a rapidly changing networked society.