Man Awarded Nobel Prize For Mapping Facebook's Privacy Settings

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Naone, Erica. "Social Networks Keep Privacy in the Closet." Technology Review. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 11 Jun 2009. Web. 21 Apr 2010.

In her article Erica Naone explores the implications what she describes as the “double life” of Facebook. She maintains that, “On one hand, they encourage users to share as much personal information as possible, making it easy to post photos, videos, notes, and links. But at the same time, these sites have to safeguard that information and limit how it is shared between users and beyond their own walls.” Naone reasons that conflict results when the social networking site creates privacy settings which are then buried or spread over multiple pages so that they are not intuitively accessed. While the social networking sites may provide these settings it appears that the sites want to keep their users from really thinking about their privacy. Naone also presents the opinion of Joseph Bonneau, a University of Cambridge researcher who is studying social networking sites. Bonneau’s perspective is, “To the social network, your value increases the more data you share on the site.” The more the user shares, the more targeted the advertising becomes and ultimately more revenue for the social networking site. Bonneau reasons that the sites ultimately want an almost constant flow of observable information and that, “The best way to achieve that is to not bring up the concept of privacy.” Naone also discusses research that has been done on 45 social networking sites to evaluate their privacy controls and policies. According to the study while there is a great range of the quality of the sites settings two of the worlds most popular, Facebook and MySpace, rank somewhere in the middle. The researchers attributed the rankings of Facebook and MySpace to the fact that they offer more applications than the other sites, but in general they found that the more popular a site was the better its privacy settings were. In the study there was one consistent theme that the sites often leave user profiles almost 100 percent public by default. Naone concludes her article be explaining that the shear number of privacy settings social networking site provide their users with can actually make it harder to maintain control over their private information.

Naone’s article was an important source to consult in regard to whether users should trust social networking sites with their personal information because it evaluates the possible economic motivations social networking sites may have. Naone does not simply rely on rhetoric to convey her opinion but also presents reputable evidence to support her view that it is in the social networking sites best interest for their user’s profiles to be as open as possible. By utilizing the University of Cambridge study Naone is able to logically illustrate the apparent disconnect between Facebook and MySpace’s privacy settings and their popularity. This is an important element to consider because it asks a fundamental question that while the social networking sites may provide their users with privacy settings, what motivates them to help there users utilize them? In addition to that the privacy settings can change at any time and can actually make it harder for the user to maintain a secure profile. Unlike some of the other articles that have explored the topic social networking and privacy Naone looks at the issue with a skeptical eye. Rather than simply excusing the business practices of social networking sites as the price one pays to join, instead she assumes the viewpoint that a user’s personal information may be disseminated needlessly to the financial benefit of the site. While Naone does point to the side of the debate that is perceived as negative she also draws attention to the various solutions that may solve the issue, which adds more credence to her arguments than simply decrying what she sees as wrong and leaving it at that. Her submission of a solution suggests that she has considered the issue from differing points of view and that she is confident that there is a better way for social networking sites to handle their user’s private information. In almost any debate there is room for the voice of decent and Naone assumes that voice when she draws attention to the potential that there may be a conflict of interest in how social networking sites handle their user’s information.