Comprehensive Privacy Risk Assessment in Social Networks Using User Attributes Social Graphs and Text Analysis

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive framework for assessing privacy risks in social networks by integrating user attributes, social graph structures, and content analysis, validated on real datasets and user studies.

Contribution

It presents the CPRS framework that quantifies privacy risks holistically, combining multiple data dimensions into a unified score, a novel approach in privacy risk assessment.

Findings

Average risk score is 0.478, increasing to 0.501 in graph-sensitive scenarios.

Graph-based risks are higher than content and attribute risks.

User study shows 85% find the privacy dashboard clear and useful.

Abstract

The rise of social networking platforms has amplified privacy threats as users increasingly share sensitive information across profiles, content, and social connections. We present a Comprehensive Privacy Risk Scoring (CPRS) framework that quantifies privacy risk by integrating user attributes, social graph structures, and user-generated content. Our framework computes risk scores across these dimensions using sensitivity, visibility, structural similarity, and entity-level analysis, then aggregates them into a unified risk score. We validate CPRS on two real-world datasets: the SNAP Facebook Ego Network (4,039 users) and the Koo microblogging dataset (1M posts, 1M comments). The average CPRS is 0.478 with equal weighting, rising to 0.501 in graph-sensitive scenarios. Component-wise, graph-based risks (mean 0.52) surpass content (0.48) and profile attributes (0.45). High-risk attributes include email, date of birth, and mobile number. Our user study with 100 participants shows 85% rated the dashboard as clear and actionable, confirming CPRS's practical utility. This work enables personalized privacy risk insights and contributes a holistic, scalable methodology for privacy management. Future directions include incorporating temporal dynamics and multimodal content for broader applicability.