Issues of Online Privacy On Social Networking Sites and Its Awareness

Awareness of Online Privacy in Social Networks 2014
Issues of online privacy on Social

Networking Sites and its
Awareness
Submitted By
LAMISA ZAREEN CHOWDHURY
ID# 1310128630
ENGLISH 105
SEC: 13
27/04/2014
Submitted for
Mr. Shahidul Islam Khan
Lecturer, Department of English
North South University
1
Acknowledgement
Successful completion of any course requires support from various personnel and I am
fortunate to have that support, direction, and supervision in every aspect from Mr. Shahidul
Islam Khan, Course Instructor, Department of English, North South University.
I would like to thank North south university, Department of English for adding this Research
work in our course which helped us a lot understanding the topic in practical life and how it
works in real life. I also show my utmost gratitude to all the Respondent those are filled up
questioners that help me to do this research and got some knowledge about them. The speed
and helpfulness of the Respondent really helped me in obtaining the necessary information in
time.
This research entitled ― Issues of online privacy on social networking sites and the attitude
of people towards it’s awareness. has been done during the spring semester of academic
year-2014 under the guidance of Mr. Shahidul Islam Khan, Course Instructor (Eng-
105.13), Department of English, North South University.
I would also like to show my utmost gratitude to my family members. They deserve a bow
cause throughout the research paper I informed them every work detail and they continuously
asked for latest update regarding my research paper.
2
Table of Contents
Serial Content Pages

1 Introduction 4-6
2 Literature Review 7-12
3 Research Questions 13
4 Hypothesis 13-14
5 Research Methodology 14
6 Data Presentation 15-25
7 Findings 25-26
8 Conclusion 27
9 Reference 27-28
3
INTRODUCTION
One of the most difficult issues in any discussion of privacy is the concept itself. While
privacy is often recognized as a universal human right, what is considered to be “private”
varies from person to person, society to society, culture to culture, and time to time. Social
scientists tend to treat privacy as a social and psychological human need. They focus on how
individuals define and manage private space so as to maintain appropriate distance from one
another across occasions and social space. There is a private sphere of human life that should
be free from interferences and intrusions from the public. And social networking is the
grouping of individuals into specific groups like in person, workplace, universities mostly
popular in online. When it comes to online social networking, websites are commonly used.
These websites are known as social sites. Social networking sites are Facebook, Twitter,
Yahoo, Ask.fm etc.
Even before the various networks supporting online communication converged as Internet,
tensions existed between users’ desires to communicate online in very personal ways and
their assumptions that their disclosures would or should be treated as privileged and private.
With every click, we entrust our conversations, e-mails, photo, location information and
much more to companies like Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Twitter etc. Online privacy involves
the right or mandate of personal privacy concerning the storing, repurposing, provision to
third-parties and displaying of information pertaining to oneself via the Internet. Privacy can
entail either Personally Identifying Information (PII) or non-PII information such as a site
4
visitor's behavior on a website.
The focus of my research will be on how far the people are aware of the fact of complete lack
of privacy online and how they behave or how they show their traits towards Online Privacy.
Bangladesh is country where there are so many people with different perceptions and
educational background as well as their level of wisdom also varies. Due to technological
advancement Internet or use of the social sites, mail, chat rooms have become the part and
parcel of daily life. I would like to figure out whether people of our country are well aware of
the particular fact about "Lacking Privacy Online" when they share special moments in
online or not. I want to dig the hole of how people react and how they show their attitude
towards it. I am hoping to find answers to such questions through my research work.
Not only is privacy crucial to how you interact with your readers and your loved ones online,
it‘s also an important part of your digital footprint. With the way that the laws are now, what
you say today could be used against you at some point in the future. That, in and of itself,
should scare you. As authors, we may be writers — but we are not machines nor are we
psychics. We make mistakes and, over time, our opinions might change. Right now, the
Internet isn‘t prepared to handle those nuances because published content, in many cases,
could be permanent.
The Internet landscape may be changing rapidly, but the law is not blind. Once the courts
start to catch up, the wild, Wild West days of ―free‖ sites like the social media platforms we
all enjoy may be over. The question is: are you ready for it? If not, I suggest that you take the
5
time to research where you are putting your stories and thoughts online. Then, you will come
to your own conclusions about the tools you are using and how valuable your privacy is to
you.
6
Literature Review
When I first entertained this research topic I made a glaring oversight. I initially assumed my
working definition of privacy was universal. In subsequent research into Corporate
Colonization I found, through feedback, that where I saw privacy concerns others saw
something different. McCullagh (2008) states, ―Privacy encompasses a variety of different
issues and is important for a number of reasons. Therefore, a single definition that adequately
incorporates all the subtle differences that privacy evokes has so far proven impossible‖ (p.4).
Much of the research found that deals with privacy on the Internet is prefaced on a common
understanding of privacy. Surveys used in these studies ask questions about how people feel
about privacy issues but many of these same studies do not define a baseline for what privacy
is. This is a problem. To help us avoid this in this paper, I will use a comprehensive and
useful framework offered by DeCew (1997) based on a cluster concept of privacy.
DeCew (1997) argues that privacy is, ―a broad and multifaceted cluster concept‖, which
encapsulates ―our ability to control information about ourselves, our ability to govern access
to ourselves, and our ability to make self-expressive autonomous decisions free from
intrusion or control by others‖ (pp.61-62). DeCew (1997) envisages privacy as a, ―complex
of three related clusters of claims concerning information about oneself, physical access to
oneself, and decision making and activity that provide one with the independence needed to
carve out one‘s self-identity through self-expression and interpersonal relationships‖ (p.78).
The cluster includes three aspects of privacy: (1) informational privacy; (2) accessibility
privacy; and (3) expressive privacy (DeCew, 1997, pp. 75-76). I will use this concept and
7
these aspects of privacy as a basis for the presented areas of concern regarding privacy on the
Internet.
As was noted earlier, there are so very many avenues of risk that we cannot completely cover
them and all their variants. In this section we will focus on three interrelated areas of concern;
data mining, Google, and behavioral advertising. Data collection and data mining happen
continuously focusing on the Internet user. We are notified regularly of site and portal
privacy terms and conditions, however, ―Online privacy statements are often placed
inconveniently at the bottom of the page and are often tedious, complex, and replete with
legal language the average web user finds difficult to comprehend‖ (Fernback & Papacharissi,
n.d., p. 3). Additionally, we find, ―many of the security statements of e-tailers sound
reassuring, but offer very little protection to the individual consumer‖ (Fernback &
Papacharissi, n.d., p. 3). Often these statements are meant to legally protect the company and
not the user (Fernback & Papacharissi, n.d., p. 3). With their legal bases covered these online
institutions create digital profiles of their users and use profile information in conjunction
with other usage data for data harvesting (Spring, 2010, p. 11).
One survey showed nearly two-thirds (64.9%) of users indicated that they were "very" or
"somewhat" worried about their personal privacy and more than 7 in 10 (71.4%) agree
"strongly" or "somewhat" that people have lost all control over how personal information
about them is used (Kachhi & Link, 2009, p. 77). Yet given this level of concern they
continue to provide the inadvertent information cited. We will see in future sections how
much information we continue to provide voluntarily.
Google is a juggernaut in the information space and on the Internet. Google combines
common practices that other search and email providers use with their own technologies. Due
8
to their ubiquity they warrant their own discussion. As of 2008, Google is estimated to
account for nearly 60% of all Internet search queries in the United States—over six billion
each month (more than double the next largest search engine). They are estimated to have
received 76% of search revenue collected by the top three search engines. Yahoo, its top
competitor, received just over 18% (Tene, 2008, p.1434). We will ignore some of the recent
news items about Google, such as those regarding location tracking. Even still, there is an
unbelievable amount of data tracking that a company like Google does that falls into the
category of involuntary. Tene (2008) wrote:
Google‘s access to and storage of vast amounts of personal information create a serious
privacy problem, one that Princeton computer scientist Edward Felten recently called―
“perhaps the most difficult privacy [problem] in all of human history”. Every day, millions of
users provide Google with unfettered access to their interests, needs, desires, fears, pleasures,
and intentions. Many users do not realize that this information is logged and maintained in a
form which can facilitate their identification.
Like Google is to online searches, Facebook is the 800 pound gorilla of the social networking
world. There are over 500 million Facebook users. There is much discussion regarding
Facebook‘s privacy settings and practices, but we will focus on how users cause their own
privacy issues. Based on surveys, we find that of users under 30, 76.3% of profiles were
visible friends only (Taraszow, Aristodemou, Shitta, Laouris, & Arsoy, 2010, p. 89). And
64.1% provide their email address, 54.2% provide their hometown, and 99.2% provide their
full birthday in their Facebook profiles (Taraszow, Aristodemou, Shitta, Laouris, & Arsoy,
2010, p. 91). Users do this because they enjoy the Facebook experience. Debatin, Lovejoy,
Horn, and Hughes (2009) state, -“It can therefore be assumed that the expected gratification
9
motivates the users to provide and frequently update very specific personal data that most of
them would immediately refuse to reveal in other contexts, such as a telephone survey (p.
88). Considering the vast amount of data mining already being done it is easy to see how any
access to the information provided on Facebook be of significant malicious use. Debatin,
Lovejoy, Horn, and Hughes (2009) highlight this aspect: The IT security firm Sophos set up a
fake profile to determine how easy it would be to data-mine Facebook for the purpose of
identity theft. They found that out of 200 contacted people, 41% revealed personal
information by either responding to the contact (and thus making their profile temporarily
accessible) or immediately befriending the fake persona. The divulged information was
enough ‘to create phishing emails or malware specifically targeted at individual users or
business, to guess users passwords, impersonate them, or even stalk them.’ (p. 87)
As can be seen, of all of the privacy concerns people have regarding Facebook, the most
significant one they should be aware of is their own disclosure of information. Figure 1 (Debatin,
Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes, 2009, p. 88) best summarizes the Facebook privacy paradigm:
10
11
The number of Internet subscriptions in Bangladesh grew from 186,000 in 2000 to 617,300 in
2009 (^ "Internet users", World Bank, accessed 27 September 2011). However, only 0.4% of
the population used the Internet in 2009 giving Bangladesh one of the lowest usage
percentages in the world, ahead of only North Korea, Myanmar, and Sierra Leone ("Internet
users (per 100 people)", The World Bank). In April 2010, Akhtaruzzaman Manju, president
of Internet Service Providers' Association of Bangladesh, said "we've estimated that nearly 10
million people in the country are using 800,000 Internet connections on sharing basis",
adding the number of Internet users in the country is increasing roughly 15-16 percent a year.
The Bangla blogging platform Sachalayatan was reported to be inaccessible on 15 July 2008,
and was forced to migrate to a new IP address. Although the blocking was not officially
confirmed, Sachalayatan was likely Bangladesh‘s inaugural filtering event. YouTube was
blocked for a few days in March 2009 in order to protect the ―national interest‖. The
disputed video covered a partial audio recording of a meeting between the prime minister and
military officials, who were angry at the government‘s handling of a mutiny by border guards
in Dhaka that left more than seventy people dead ("ONI Regional Overview: Asia", OpenNet
Initiative, June 2009). Facebook was blocked by the Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for 7 days starting on 29 May 2010 because of "obnoxious
images", including depictions of Mohammed and several of the country's political officials as
well as links to pornographic sites. The block was lifted after Facebook agreed to remove the
offensive content.
Although the right to freedom of expression can be restricted, the circumstances under which
this may be done have to be narrowly defined. It is necessary that national mechanisms give a
12
clear indication of the extent to which regulation of the Internet is compatible with the
international legal guarantee regarding freedom of expression.
Research Question
In my research I want to investigate the awareness of people about complete lack of privacy
online and their reaction towards this thing. For conducting my research, I have designed
some questions that will generate my desired answers.
*What is online privacy?
*What is social networking media?
*How privacy works in the social networking sites?
*How well are people aware of the attack of privacy online?
*What are the reasons behind unawareness of people regarding lack of online privacy ?
*How do the lack of privacy can impact on person’s social life?
*What are the opinions about the lacking of online privacy and information leaking?
*How do they cope up knowing lack of privacy online?
Hypothesis
Today, private companies are tracking as many of our movements as they can online, selling
that information to other companies who in turn share it with law enforcement and the
government. I expect to find out that people are aware of the fact that information which they
13
share with their near and dear ones in social sites everything is getting recorded for the
further usage. I think I will get a mixed response from different kinds of people as their level
of thinking is not same. I also think that people who are sensitive and have very strong
personalities don't share too much information in online and don't use abusive words and so
on.
Research Methodology
For my primary research, I have followed qualitative and quantitative research method by
conducting a survey of representative sampling of the different groups (age, sex, location,
education etc.) people and interviewed those who constantly use online, e-mail, social sites
and so on. To that end I designed a questionnaire with different types of questions so as to get
a range of useful data that has helped me to answer my research questions.
For my secondary research, I used resources of the articles from websites and consulted few
books and personal experiences of people. I browsed the Internet and used standard search
engines like Google & Yahoo.

 http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/internet/the-state-of-internet-privacy-in-2013-
research-roundup#


14
Data Presentation
1. Demographic Characteristics:
1.1 Gender
Respondents Number %
Total Number of Respondents 47 -
Number of Male respondents 25 47%
Number of Female respondents 22 53%
Table 1: Percentage of Male and Female Respondents
1.2 Age
Age Range (years) Percentage Number
17-20 30% 14
21-25 70% 33 Table 2:
26 and above 0% 0
Percentage of the respondents
2. Data Analysis
After the demographic information collected through the survey questionnaires, I have
interviewed every respondent using 15 questions. Each of the questions represents different
answer to the research questions. There were no open-ended questions. Every question has
4/5 options to answer.
2.1 The first question that was asked to the respondents is “ How long have u been using the
15
Internet?’’ Answer of the following question is scrutinized below:
Less than 6 months 1 2%

6 months- 1 years 1 2%
1-2 years 2 4%
2+ years 48 92%
Table 4: How long have you used the Internet?
2% 6%
6%
Less than 6 months

6months-1year
1-2 years
2+ years
1.2
 Figure 1: How long have you used the Internet?
2.2 How much time do you spend on Internet from your home per day?
Less than 30 minutes 12 25%
More than 2 hours 21 45%

Table 5: How much time do you spend on Internet from your home per day?
16
2.3 How much time do you spend time on Internet from your workplace per day?
That was my 3rd question in the survey questionnaire. Spending time on the Internet from
work is not that much high. People use it for 1-5 hours most of the cases.
2.4 For what purpose do you use Internet most?
Here the question was that the answer you can select is multiple because people are using
Internet for various purposes. Like for social networking sites, emails, etc. So, one person has
selected more than 2 answers. And they have many reasons for it. They do many works at the
same time.
Social Networking 35
Entertainment 25
Work related 16
News 7
Others 1
Table 6: For what purpose do you use Internet most?
2.5 Which social networking site do you use?
This question also says that the answer can be multiple because there are many social
networking sites. People are using Facebook, My Space, Instagram etc. So the numbers are
many.
Facebook 45
Twitter 4
Google+ 15
Other 3
I don’t use any 0
Table 7: which social networking site do you use?
17
2.6 Why do they use these sites?

For fun 2
To stay connected with friends 5
Making contacts 13
Others 26
Table 8: Why do they use these sites?
0%
8%
18%
For fun
To stay connected with friends
Making contacts
Others
74%
Figure 2: Why do people use these sites?
18
2.7 How secure do you feel about sharing your personal information on social
networking sites?
60%
51%
50%
40%
30%
23%
20% 15%
11%
10%
0%
Secure Not as secure I Not Secure Don’t know
would like
Figure 3: How secure do you feel about sharing?
19
2.8 When you share your personal moments or photos on social networking site, are you
concerned?
45%
41%
40%
35%
30% 27%
25%
20% 18%
14%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Not at all A little Somewhat Ver concerned
Figure 4: Are you concerned about sharing your moments and photos?
2.9 Do you use any third party devices?
20
20 Yes
27 No
Figure 5: Do you use any third party devices?
2.10 If yes, are you aware and concerned about the security of these?
So, there are 27 people who r using the third party devices.
Yes 22
No 3
I don’t know much about these 2
2.11 In general, which is more important to you Privacy or Convenience?
Convenience 12 26%
Privacy 35 74%
21
26%
Privacy
Convenience
74%
Figure 6: Which is more important Privacy or Convenience?
2.12 How concerned are you about your privacy on Internet? (Email, Privacy, Browsing
privacy etc.)
6%
12%
Not at all
25%
A little
21%
Moderate
Very Concerned
I should be but im n't

36%
Figure 7: How concerned are you about your privacy?
22
2.13 Have you ever become a victim of hacking?
60%
50%
40%
30% 56%
44%
20%
10%
0%
Yes No
Figure 8: Have you ever become a victim of hacking?
2.14 If your answer is yes then mention what did you do that time?
Solved it out yourself 5 18%
Called a friend 10 36%
Took legal steps 3 11%
Didn’t bother 4 14%
Other 6 21%
Table 10: If your answer is yes then mention what you did that time?
23
Solved it out by yourself

21% 18%
Called a friend
Took legal steps
14% Didn’t bother
Other
36%
11%
Figure 9: If your answer is yes then mention what you did that time?
2.15 What do you think is the reason behind the unawareness of people regarding
online privacy?
Lack of seriousness 13 28%
Unawareness of the consequences 9 19%
Most people don’t know the process 7 15%
All of the above 18 38%
Other 0 0%
Table 11: What do you think is the reason behind the unawareness of people regarding
online privacy?
24
0%
Lack of seriousness
18%
Unawareness of the consequences
28%
Most people don’t know the

process
All of the above

15%
Other
19%
Figure 10: What do you think is the reason behind the unawareness of people regarding
online privacy?
Findings
The findings of this research show that Different professionals and different ages of people
use Internet for different reasons. People knowingly and unknowingly using it for their
personal usage, official usages etc. Lack of privacy online is a pretty big concern for most of
the people and on the contrary it‘s not at all a big issue for few people too. Mixed Responses
25
and mixed perceptions are the ultimate findings of this research paper. Out of 47 students
questionnaires used, there were 22 female students and 25 male students. All of them belong
to the age group 16-25 years.
*100% of the students are regular on social networking sites.
*Maximum people are using the Internet for more than 2 years and it is 92% and the least are
using it for less than 6 months and it is 2%.
*From home about 25% people are using Internet from home and 45% are using more than 2
hours.
*55% people don’t use Internet from their work place for personal browsing and the least
people who are using is 41% for 1-2 hours.
*Maximum people are using Internet for social networking, entertainment, work related,
news etc.
*The social networking sites which are they mainly using are Facebook, Twitter, Google+
etc.
*About 11% of the students feel secured on online and 51% does not feel secure.
*About 30% people are little concerned and 38% are very concerned about sharing their
personal moments and pictures.
*27% people are using Internet from third party devices and 22% are only concerned about it.
*74% are concerned about their privacy and 26% are concerned about convenience.
*Comparing about the privacy issues moderate (36%) people are concerned and 21% are very
concerned.
*Around 56% are the victims of hacking and 44% aren’t.
*The people who’s account was hacked called their friends mainly which is 36%, 18%
26
people solved it out by themselves, 11% people took legal steps.
*28% people think lack of seriousness is the reason of unawareness where 15% people don’t
know the process and 19% people are unaware of the consequences.
Conclusions
There are many more Internet privacy issues than were covered here. In considering Internet
privacy in a corporate managed and colonized sphere it is always important to define privacy
for you. I used the framework defined by DeCew (1997) which speaks of privacy in three
ways:
(1) Informational privacy – control over one’s information.
(2) Accessibility privacy – control over physical access to information.
(3) Expressive privacy – control over how to choose, interact and act.
From the research presented we find that informational and accessibility privacies are of
primary concern. Data on users is collected and correlated from multiple locations providing
an almost eerie profile of the individual. It also is evident that based on how users choose to
wield their expressive privacy will have a major impact on their informational privacy. Being
aware of Internet privacy concerns is the best way to make informed decisions and to protect
you.
References
1. DeCew, J. (1997). In Pursuit of privacy: Law, ethics, and the rise of technology. Ithaca:
27
Cornell
University Press.
2. McCullagh, K. (2008). Blogging: Self presentation and privacy. Information &
Communications Technology Law, 17(1), 3-23. doi:10.1080/13600830801886984
3. Fernback, J., & Papacharissi, Z. (n.d.). Online privacy as legal safeguard: the
Relationship among consumer, online portal, and privacy policies. Conference Papers --
International Communication Association, , 1-5. doi:ica_proceeding_11964.PDF
4. Kachhi, D., & Link, M. W. (2009). Too much information: Does the internet dig too
deep? Journal of Advertising Research, 49(1), 74-81. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
5. Tene, O. (2008). What Google knows: Privacy and internet search engines. Utah Law
Review, 2008(4), 1433-1492. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
6. Taraszow, T., Aristodemou, E., Shitta, G., Laouris, Y., & Arsoy, A. (2010). Disclosure
of personal and contact information by young people in social networking sites: An
analysis using Facebook™ profiles as an example. International Journal of Media &
Cultural Politics, 6(1), 81-101. doi:10.1386/macp.6.1.81/1.
7. Debatin, B., Lovejoy, J. P., Horn, A., & Hughes, B. N. (2009). Facebook and Online
privacy: Attitudes, behaviors, and unintended consequences. Journal of Computer-
Mediated Communication, 18(1), 83-108. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01494.x.
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Awareness of Online Privacy in Social Networks 2014

Issues of online privacy on Social

LAMISA ZAREEN CHOWDHURY

Mr. Shahidul Islam Khan

Lecturer, Department of English

North South University

Islam Khan, Course Instructor, Department of English, North South University.

105.13), Department of English, North South University.

asked for latest update regarding my research paper.

Serial Content Pages

privacy is often recognized as a universal human right, what is considered to be “private”

Yahoo, Ask.fm etc.

visitor's behavior on a website.

working definition of privacy was universal. In subsequent research into Corporate

something different. McCullagh (2008) states, ―Privacy encompasses a variety of different

useful framework offered by DeCew (1997) based on a cluster concept of privacy.

intrusion or control by others‖ (pp.61-62). DeCew (1997) envisages privacy as a, ―complex

much information we continue to provide voluntarily.

category of involuntary. Tene (2008) wrote:

form which can facilitate their identification.

access to the information provided on Facebook be of significant malicious use. Debatin,

Initiative, June 2009). Facebook was blocked by the Bangladesh Telecommunication

international legal guarantee regarding freedom of expression.

some questions that will generate my desired answers.

*What is online privacy?

*What is social networking media?

*How privacy works in the social networking sites?

*How well are people aware of the attack of privacy online?

*How do the lack of privacy can impact on person’s social life?

*How do they cope up knowing lack of privacy online?

a range of useful data that has helped me to answer my research questions.

engines like Google & Yahoo.

Table 1: Percentage of Male and Female Respondents

Age Range (years) Percentage Number

Percentage of the respondents

4/5 options to answer.

Less than 6 months 1 2%

Table 4: How long have you used the Internet?

Less than 6 months

 Figure 1: How long have you used the Internet?

Less than 30 minutes 12 25%

More than 2 hours 21 45%

2.4 For what purpose do you use Internet most?

Table 6: For what purpose do you use Internet most?

2.5 Which social networking site do you use?

Table 7: which social networking site do you use?

2.6 Why do they use these sites?

Table 8: Why do they use these sites?

Figure 2: Why do people use these sites?

Figure 3: How secure do you feel about sharing?

2.9 Do you use any third party devices?

Figure 5: Do you use any third party devices?

2.11 In general, which is more important to you Privacy or Convenience?

Figure 6: Which is more important Privacy or Convenience?

I should be but im n't

Figure 7: How concerned are you about your privacy?

2.13 Have you ever become a victim of hacking?

Figure 8: Have you ever become a victim of hacking?

Solved it out yourself 5 18%

Called a friend 10 36%

Took legal steps 3 11%

Didn’t bother 4 14%

Solved it out by yourself