Security and privacy concerns regard to Facebook and its

applications

COMS E6125 Web-enHanced Information Management (WHIM)

Spring 2008by

Szu-Jui Wusw2423

Privacy concerns are due to

Inappropriate features provided by Facebook Users disclose too much information or are u

naware of risks The anonymous information itself could still p

rovide useful data

Concerns of FB’s behavior

Facebook Beacon Not analyzing user database But real social network, i.e. word-of-mouth Opt-in or Opt-out

Concerns of FB’s behavior

Transfer story to FB user profile, if you Logged-in Not logged-in, but checked “remember me” box

Still privacy concerns Even if you did not log-in, or check “remember

me”, the activity is still transferred to FB.

Concerns of Users’ behaviors

Users are not aware of what Facebook has done

Users are willing to provide their information

Anonymous dataset could still provide some useful data

Combined with a public dataset that can de-anonymize users with not too low probability

e.g. anonymous Netflix-released movie ratings and non-anonymous IMDb users

Conclusion

FB continues launching unprecedented apps Users need to be aware of every detail of

what FB has done Nothing is impossible! Take care of your own

information