Privacy concerns of general public

Social network analysis privacy tackled. - A'ndrea Elyse Messer, http://news.psu.edu/story/344805/2015/02/14/research/social-network-analysis-privacy-tackledThis article basically is about various attempts made by people in order to strip away identifying bits from information collected from the general public. The thought process behind this idea was to make sure that even when the information is collected the public could maintain their privacy and stay anonymous online. Although the idea had some merit, it ultimately failed as even when key features were deleted, they could still be identified which was the main problem with collection of data.

Relevant quotes - "Our goal is to be able to release information without making personal or sensitive data available and still be accurate," said Sofya Raskhodnikova, associate professor of computer science and engineering. "But we have to figure out what 'privacy' means and develop a rigorous mathematical foundation for protecting privacy."

Privacy concerns with social networking services There has been numerous studies that shows us that people dont generally make use of the privacy settings offered by the social networking service, and any services offered arent secure enough. This creates a huge concern in safeguarding ones social privacy. Social networking services are also being used by stalkers and sexual predators, since most profiles dont have appropriate security and all information are readily accessible. (Ex: Peter Chapman and Ashleigh) There was a report by a man who reportedly bought 1 thousand Facebook accounts information for just $5.

Privacy issues can also be seen in employment sectors. Recent statistics shows that employers are 20% more likely to screen a potential candidates social media profile before they decide whether to hire him/her. This is a serious breach of privacy in which the past actions that the candidate did/said results in their outcome. Facebooks top ten most used apps have been found to send user information to online data aggregators, who in turn would process this information to use for advertising. It is also used to analyze and track a certain individuals actions, thoughts by reading his/her draft posts, updates, likes and so on.