Exploring the Readability of Terms of Service of Social Networking Sites

Terms of service of social networking sites provides relevant information for end-users to make inform decision regarding their use of social networking site. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the readability of the top five social networking sites namely Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, YouTube, and WeChat. Using Flesch reading ease and grade level indexes, the authors measured the readability of the selected terms of service. Measures of central tendencies, and one-way analysis of variance, with bootstrapping, were used to analyse the data. The results showed that the ToS were difficult to read when compared to the standard score of public documents. Moreover, the readability levels of the ToS required end users to have attained at least 13 years of formal education, which is equivalent to first year college student, in order for the users to find the ToS readable. In addition, no statistical difference existed among ToS of the five social networking sites meaning all the ToS of the five networks were unilaterally difficult for the average reader (end user). It is recommended that the ToS of these networks be revised to make them more readable since substantial number of their audience are young with low number of years of education

A Content Analysis of Library Vendor Privacy Policies: Do They Meet Our Standards?

Librarians have a long history of protecting user privacy, but they have done seemingly little to understand or influence the privacy policies of library resource vendors that increasingly collect user information through Web 2.0-style personalization features. After citing evidence that college students value privacy, this study used content analysis to determine the degree to which the privacy policies of 27 major vendors meet standards articulated by the library profession and information technology industry. While most vendors have privacy policies, the policy provisions fall short on many library profession standards and show little support for the library Code of Ethics

How to promote informal learning in the workplace? The need for incremental design methods

Informal Learning in the Workplace (ILW) is ensured by the everyday work activities in which workers are engaged. It accounts for over 75 per cent of learning in the workplace. Enterprise Social Media (ESM) are increasingly used as informal learning environments. According to the results of an implementation we have conducted in real context, we show that ESM are appropriate to promote ILW. Nevertheless, social aspects must be reconsidered to address users' needs regarding content and access, quality information indicators, moderation and control

Scholarly Journals on the Net: A Reader's Assessment

published or submitted for publicatio

Readability of websites security privacy policies: A survey on text content and readers

The aim of website's Privacy Policies is to educate consumers of a website's practices and procedures relating to their collection, usage, exchange, control, protection and the use of technology in relation to the information collection (website beacon and cookies) and transmission of user's personal information anytime he visits Internet website. This paper discusses a readability issues in privacy policies and how privacy scholars approach the issue. The paper also compares and analyzes research results on readability measurement of privacy policies and divides them into two categories according to different perspective. The perspective includes readability measurement from reader's perspective and readability measurement from privacy policies text content’s perspective. Our finding shows that website providers should give consumers better control regarding their information and give them more freedom in privacy policies. Only then will consumers become liberated from the burden of choosing between 2 unspeakable options. A legally binding document on the privacy policy can be written, that will also be clear and simple to read

Privacy and Online Social Networks: A Systematic Literature Review of Concerns, Preservation, and Policies

Background: Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities, but with it comes privacy concerns due to how personal data are handled by these social networking sites. Prior literature aimed at identifying users’ privacy concerns as well as user behavior associated with privacy mitigation strategies and policies. However, OSN users continue to divulge private information online and privacy remains an issue. Accordingly, this review aims to present extant research on this topic, and to highlight any potential research gaps. Method: The paper presents a systematic literature review for the period 2006 - 2021, in which 33 full papers that explored privacy concerns in online social networks (OSN), users’ behavior associated with privacy preservation strategies and OSN privacy policies were examined. Results: The findings indicate that users are concerned about their identity being stolen, the disclosure of sensitive information by third-party applications and through data leakage and the degree of control users have over their data. Strategies such as encryption, authentication, and privacy settings configuration, can be used to address users’ concerns. Users generally do not leverage privacy settings available to them, or read the privacy policies, but will opt to share information based on the benefits to be derived from OSNs. Conclusion: OSN users have specific privacy concerns due primarily to the inherent way in which personal data are handled. Different preservation strategies are available to be used by OSN users. Policies are provided to inform users, however, these policies at times are difficult to read and understand, but studies show that there is no direct effect on the behavior of OSN users. Further research is needed to elucidate the correlation between the relative effectiveness of different privacy preservation strategies and the privacy concerns exhibited by users. Extending the research to comparatively assess different social media sites could help with better awareness of the true influence of privacy policies on user behavior

Childcare quality improvement and assurance practices

This study set out to examine how quality assurance and quality improvement schemes are being used by Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships and childcare providers in England to improve the quality of services beyond minimum standards. Three types of early years providers took part: day nurseries, out-of-school clubs and childminding networks

Barriers and facilitators to social prescribing in child and youth mental health: Perspectives from the frontline

There is growing interest in the role of Social Prescribing (SP) to help promote mental wellbeing and support individuals with mental health difficulties. Yet, implementation of SP to children and young people (CYP) has proved slow and underdeveloped compared with adult populations. Understanding the barriers and facilitators will help key stakeholders to better embed SP for CYP into practice. Using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), a comprehensive, theoretical-led framework, underpinned by 33 behaviour change theories and 128 constructs, perceived barriers and facilitators to SP were investigated. The sample comprised of 11 Link Workers and 9 individuals involved in facilitating SP with CYP, who took part in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using a deductive thematic analysis, and themes were coded under each theoretical domain. Overall, 33 barriers and facilitators for SP were identified across 12 domains of the TDF. Under capability, barriers and facilitators were found for knowledge, skills, memory/attention/decision making processes, and behavioural regulation. For opportunity, barriers and facilitators were found for social/professional influences, as well as environmental context and resources. Finally, for motivation, domains covered included: beliefs about consequences, beliefs about capabilities, optimism, motivations/goals, reinforcement, and emotions. Findings suggest that a wide range of barriers and facilitators affect the implementation of CYP SP to improve mental health and wellbeing. Interventions which target different domains related to capability, opportunity and motivation should be developed to better facilitate CYP SP