Social privacy: perceptions of veillance, relationships, and space with online social networking services

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)This research seeks to examine the experience of social privacy around online social networking services. In particular, it examines how individuals experience social privacy through the perception of veillance, relationships and space. It highlights that individuals need varying types of veillance and relationships in order to experience the social privacy they desire. It also highlights that individuals used the perception of space to indicate acceptable convention within that space; seeking spaces, both real and metaphorical, that they perceived to afford them the experience of social privacy. Through the application of phenomenological methods drawn from ethnography this study explores how the experience of social privacy is perceived. It does this through examining the perception of veillance, relationships and space in separation, though notes that the individual perceives all three simultaneously. It argues that the varying conditions of these perceptions afford the individuals the experience of social privacy. Social privacy is, therefore, perceived as a socially afforded emotional experience

Privacy concerns and benefits of engagement with social media-enabled apps: A privacy calculus perspective

Privacy threats in a social media-enabled application (app) can originate from either the institution or other app users. Although privacy in social media is well studied, the role of social (peer) privacy concerns is largely unknown and most privacy studies on mobile apps focus on initial adoption and ignore long-term behavioral outcomes. Drawing on the privacy calculus theory, this study examines the impact of both institutional and social privacy concerns on long-term user engagement with social media-enabled apps. Findings from the analysis of 354 survey responses reveal that both institutional and social privacy concerns decrease engagement. Regarding the antecedents, the perceived sensitivity of information increases institutional privacy concerns. However, social privacy concerns are influenced by the perception of risk and control. Moreover, while the impacts of social and enjoyment benefits are expectedly positive, the perception of efficiency benefits decreases engagement. These findings are further investigated and validated through a follow-up text analysis study, suggesting that users who enjoy the functionality of these apps are more likely to express social privacy concerns and minimize their engagement. This study contributes to the literature of privacy on mobile apps by unraveling the intricate dynamics of privacy concerns and benefits in the social mobile era

Creative beyond TikToks : investigating adolescents' social privacy management on TikTok

TikTok has been criticized for its low privacy standards, but little is known about how its adolescent users protect their privacy. Based on interviews with 54 adolescents in Switzerland, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of young TikTok users' privacy management practices related to the creation of videos. The data were explored using the COM-B model, an established behavioral analysis framework adapted for sociotechnical privacy research. Our overall findings are in line with previous research on other social networks: adolescents are aware of privacy related to their online social connections (social privacy) and perform conscious privacy management. However, we also identified new patterns related to the central role of algorithmic recommendations potentially relevant for other social networks. Adolescents are aware that TikTok's special algorithm, combined with the app's high prevalence among their peers, could easily put them in the spotlight. Some adolescents also reduce TikTok, which was originally conceived as a social network, to its extensive audio-visual capabilities and share TikToks via more private channels (e.g., Snapchat) to manage audiences and avoid identification by peers. Young users also find other creative ways to protect their privacy such as identifying stalkers or maintaining multiple user accounts with different privacy settings to establish granular audience management. Based on our findings, we propose various concrete measures to develop interventions that protect the privacy of adolescents on TikTok

Advice from the Webmaster: Be Paranoid

In the 17+ years I’ve been webmaster at Linfield College, I have learned the internet can hurt you anonymously, quickly and painfully. There isn’t enough space in this magazine to cover the topic in detail. But if I had to give an elevator pitch about what you should worry about and what you should do based on my experiences and what Linfield’s Information Technology support desk deals with, it would be this

The Robot Privacy Paradox: Understanding How Privacy Concerns Shape Intentions to Use Social Robots

Conceptual research on robots and privacy has increased but we lack empirical evidence about the prevalence, antecedents, and outcomes of different privacy concerns about social robots. To fill this gap, we present a survey, testing a variety of antecedents from trust, technology adoption, and robotics scholarship. Respondents are most concerned about data protection on the manufacturer side, followed by social privacy concerns and physical concerns. Using structural equation modeling, we find a privacy paradox, where the perceived benefits of social robots override privacy concerns