Personal Information Privacy Settings of Online Social Networks and their Suitability for Mobile Internet Devices

TL;DR

This paper examines user awareness and the suitability of privacy settings in online social networks, highlighting the need for mobile-compatible privacy controls to enhance user data protection across devices.

Contribution

It identifies gaps in current privacy settings for mobile devices and proposes the development of simplified, device-compatible privacy control systems.

Findings

High smartphone usage for web services.

Current privacy settings are inadequate for mobile screens.

Need for mobile-friendly privacy management solutions.

Abstract

Protecting personal information privacy has become a controversial issue among online social network providers and users. Most social network providers have developed several techniques to decrease threats and risks to the users privacy. These risks include the misuse of personal information which may lead to illegal acts such as identity theft. This study aims to measure the awareness of users on protecting their personal information privacy, as well as the suitability of the privacy systems which they use to modify privacy settings. Survey results show high percentage of the use of smart phones for web services but the current privacy settings for online social networks need to be improved to support different type of mobile phones screens. Because most users use their mobile phones for Internet services, privacy settings that are compatible with mobile phones need to be developed. The method of selecting privacy settings should also be simplified to provide users with a clear picture of the data that will be shared with others. Results of this study can be used to develop a new privacy system which will help users control their personal information easily from different devices, including mobile Internet devices and computers.