Social Media Ethics and Privacy Concerns: A Detailed Report

This report delves into the intricate relationship between social media and individual privacy. It begins with an introduction to the concept of social media, exploring its evolution and impact on communication. The literature review covers social media concepts, types of privacy violations, associated risks and threats, and mitigation strategies. The research methodology details the research philosophy, approach (including a Google survey), design, and data collection methods. The data analysis chapter presents findings based on survey responses, examining how companies utilize user data. The report concludes with a summary of findings, along with recommendations to protect sensitive information and navigate the challenges of maintaining privacy in the digital age. The report also focuses on ethical considerations, challenges, and potential solutions for OSN users.

Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA ETHICS
SOCIAL MEDIA AND OTHER PEOPLE'S PRIVACY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction........................................................................................................4
Abstract............................................................................................................................4
Introduction......................................................................................................................4
Research Aim...................................................................................................................5
Research Objectives.........................................................................................................5
Research question............................................................................................................6
Research structure............................................................................................................6
Chapter 2: Literature Review...............................................................................................8
Social media concept.......................................................................................................8
Types of privacy violation.............................................................................................11
Risk and threats..............................................................................................................14
Mitigation of the threats.................................................................................................16
Chapter 3: Research Methodology....................................................................................17
Introduction....................................................................................................................17
Research philosophy......................................................................................................17
Research approach.........................................................................................................18
Research Design............................................................................................................19
Sampling and Data Collection Method..........................................................................20
Data Analysis Method...................................................................................................20

Research Ethical Considerations...................................................................................20
Research Limitations.....................................................................................................21
Chapter 4: Data Analysis...................................................................................................21
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................32
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................32
Recommendations..........................................................................................................32
References..........................................................................................................................33

Chapter 1: Introduction
Abstract
The starting of the online social networks (OSN) converted usual passive reader into
content contributor. These networks allowed numerous users to provide information as well as
exchange opinions. The users represented themselves in the virtual communities for interacting
with other OSN users. The main aim of OSNs is to distribute huge information among multiple
individuals. Individual’s privacy is one of the major responsibility of these OSNs. The pricvacy
of the users can be exploited. The OSN providers gather the sensitive and private information of
the users which can be misused by several third parties and can exploit the OSN users.
Introduction
OSNs are used as the source of the information by numerous users. This allow a user to
communicate with other users through internet. Social media can also be represented as a social
graph which represents the relationship between the organization, users and their social
activities. These OSNs allow them to create a virtual community where they are able to transmit
and receive digital data easily. The organizations and the users are represented as the nodes and
the relationship between them is represented as the edges of the graph (Klausen 2015). Thus,
with the emerging technologies and continuous development of these OSNs allow the third
parties to gather sensitive information regarding the users. This hamper an individual’s privacy
and exploit the social media ethics as well. An individual privacy can be hampered in numerous
ways. Privacy protection and preservation are utilized to secure sensitive information of OSNs
user from the third parties and attackers. Privacy preservation is applicable in those situations
where the OSNs users handed their sensitive information to other individuals whereas the

privacy protection is applicable in those situation where the end user does not desire to share
their private information within the OSN (Guerra et al. 2013). This particular research study
primarily deals with the security and privacy problems associated with the OSNs. This research
study will also help people to learn about various methods or strategies that can be used by them
to secure themselves from various confidentiality and security concerns in the OSN’s
communication.
Research Aim
This research analysis aims on the effectives of the social media on other people’s
privacy. An in – depth study of various literartures and models that are relevant to the research
topic is conducted to measure the effect of social media on people’s privacy. Moreover, primary
and secondary research are also conducted to conclude the research topic.
Research Objectives
The major research objectives of this research study are mentioned as under:
 To analyse the utilization of the social media. To analyse the privacy concerns associated with the OSN. To measure the effectiveness of OSN on people’s privacy. To determine whether people are using the OSN in an ethical way or not. To analyse the challenges faced by the people to protect their privacy in OSNs. To analyse various ethical models appropriate to the research topic To provide recommendation to people to protect their sensitive information from the
threatful environment.

Research question
The research questions allow the investigators to attain the listed research objectives as
well as allow them to end the research study faultlessly. The research questions for this research
paper can be structured as follows:
 How People use OSN to communicate with other peoples? What are the privacy concerns associated with the OSNs? What is impact of OSNs on people’s privacy? Do people use OSNs in an ethical way or not? What are the challenges faced by the people to protect their privacy in OSNs? What are the ethical models that are relevant to this particular research topic? How can people improve their privacy while working or communicating in the OSNs?
Research structure
This research study is structured in four various chapters. Each chapter provides an in
depth knowledge regarding the research topic. The four chapters of this research are mentioned
and described below:
Chapter 1 Introduction
This particular chapter of the research study introduces the research topic as well
showcased the primary objectives for conducting this research. This chapter details purpose of
conducting this research, portrays the aims and objective of the research as well as the
researchers detailed the research structure of the study which help the readers to know and study
research topic in an appropriate way.
Chapter 2 Literature Review

Literature Review is one of the major chapter of this research paper. In this section of the
research paper the investigators studied the research topic in a detailed manner. The research
reviewed numerous literatures that are related to research topic which allow them to cover all
possible points or key sections of the research topic. The existing theories, models and concepts
allow the researcher to gather more knowledge of the study topic.
Chapter 3 Research Methodology
The researchers allowed the readers to learn about the research methods used in this
research study. This particular chapter showcased the various research methods used by the
researchers to complete the research seamlessly. In this section the research discussed the
research philosophy, research approach, research design, sampling methods and data collection
method.
Chapter 4 Data Analysis
In this chapter, the researchers presented the gathered data as charts, graphs and tables.
The results will be analysed in this section depending on the achieved data. The analysed data
will help the audience to know the effectiveness of the social media on the people’s privacy in a
detailed manner. This chapter allowed the research to conclude the research topic.
Chapter 5 Conclusion and Recommendation
The last chapter provides a concise and detailed conclusion on the research topic. The
conclusion was drawn on the basis of the analysed data and the results of the previous chapter.
This chapter also provides recommendation to the people to secure their sensitive data from the
threatful environment. The provided recommendation allow the readers to use the OSNs securely
such that their data are not exploited due to some attacks or misuse.

Chapter 2: Literature Review
Social media concept
According to Fuchs 2017, social media are the computer-mediated digital platforms that
promote knowledge, thoughts, ideas, career interests and some other forms of expression across
virtual networks as well as communities to be produced or exchanged. Social media is
the network of online communication networks devoted to feedback, interaction information
exchange and collaboration centered on the culture. Among the various types of social media are
blogs and apps devoted to forums, social networking, microblogging, social curation, content
bookmarking and wikis. According to Lewis 2015, the users generally connect social media
services on computers and laptops through web-based technology, or download
the applications that provide social media capabilities on the mobile devices, such as tablets and
smart phones. When consumers communicate with the electronic resources, they build highly
interactive channels that allow individuals, groups, and organizations to exchange, co-create,
debate, contribute, and change publicly shared self-curated content or user-generated content
(Madden et al. 2013). The range of currently available stand-alone and the incorporated social
media services pose interpretation the challenges; however, some common features there are:
 Social media are the Internet-based Web 2.0 applications that are interactive.
 The lifeblood of the social media is user-generated content including comments or any
text post, digital images or videos, and data generated through all online interactions.
 Users create network-specific website or device accounts and personalities that are built
and managed by the agency of social media.
 Social media promotes the development of social networks online by linking the identity
of a person with that of other groups or individuals.

According to Bright, Kleiser and Grau 2015, social media networks alter the manner
people’s groups stand with the votes and communicate or interact. They are introducing
the substantial as well as omnipresent alterations in the communication among the communities,
individuals and organizations. The new areas of the techno self-studies concentrate on these
developments. Social media varies from the paper-based media such as newspapers or magazines
and mainstream the electronic media like radio broadcasting, television broadcasting in many
respects, including quality, scope, duration, interactivity, accessibility, immediacy, and
efficiency. Social media outlets provide multiple channels to many recipients in the dialogic
transmission system. It is one channel for many users, as opposed to traditional media
functioning under a mono-logic communication model, including a newspaper distributed to
many readers, or the radio station transmitting the same programming to a whole community
(Wang et al. 2013). Facebook and its associated Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Twitter,
YouTube, Instagram, Weibo, Telegram, Baidu Tieba, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest,
LINE, Viber, reddit, bbm and so many are some of the most popular social media websites with
more than 100 million of registered users.
Whenever any person search about anything on Google, Google collects the data of the
users using Google analytics and then the social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram collect
the data of the users from Google through affiliate marketing and the social media show various
products of the various company or brand to influence the users for buying their product. While
visiting any Google page using the URL of any specific webpage using the IP address of
themselves, collection of the users data become very easy. The companies but the traffic from
the social media websites and then invite the users to land on their page.

According to Stieglitz et al. 2014, the huge influx of the personal information made
available online and processed throughout the cloud has kept the user privacy at the center of
debate about the ability of the network to hold this personal information securely. The degree to
which consumers and operators on social media platforms may view user profiles are becoming
the new topic of the ethical consideration, and the regulation, knowledge and implications of
potential violations of the privacy remain crucial issues prior to technological age (Albarran
2013). Privacy advocates warn the social media users about their personal data collection. In the
research done by Westerman, Spence and Van Der Heide 2014, several information or data is
captured by the electronic tracking as well as the third-party applications without the consent or
knowledge of the users. Data could also be obtained by social media analysts utilizing data
mining methods for the law enforcement and the regulatory purposes. It is also possible to collect
the information and data for the use by third parties. When social media information is shared, it
is no longer private information. There are multiple cases where especially young people share
their personal information or data that may attract predators. According to Bucher and Helmond
2017, monitoring what is shared and knowing who could potentially share that data
or information with is very vital. In particular, teens now share substantially more data or
information on the social media site or internet than they have in their past. Teens share the
personal data or information, such as telephone number names of schools and email address
(Such and Criado 2016). Studies suggest that teenagers do not realize what they are sharing but
how much of those material third parties may reach.
According to Ruths and Pfeffer 2014, there are concerns that privacy is gone and that
some large social media users seem to have become very unconcerned about privacy as social
media expands more and more. Some argue though, that individuals are still very worried with

their safety, but are neglected by the companies running such social networks that sometimes
can make the profit from the exchange of the personal information. Also there is disconnection
between the actions and words of the social media users. Studies suggest that people tends
to keep their lives secret, but otherwise imply their behaviour on the social media. Another
consideration is the lack of knowledge about how open the posts of the social media are (Such
and Rovatsos 2016). Many people on social media who have been blamed for the inappropriate
comments claimed they did not realize that someone in their friend circles will read the post; in
addition, their material is exchanged with the wide audience on certain social media websites,
unless a person chooses higher privacy settings.
In the research done by Fan and Gordon 2014, there are multiple causes, which contribute
to the privacy invasion across the social networking platforms. It was identified that by design,
the mechanisms of access and control to the personal information are contested by the social
media technologies, as sharing the user-generated content is pivotal to their function. It illustrates
the need for personal information from the social networking organizations to become available
so that their platforms can function. People need other people to communicate and interact with
each other. It may not necessarily be the bad thing, but the people need to be aware of the issues
about privacy.
Types of privacy violation
Whenever it comes to the security concerns and privacy violation on the social
media networks, the places, which are most likely to experience problem are the most common.
As per the research done by Misra and Such 2016, privacy issues, including the unwarranted
access to the personal and confidential information, need not necessarily imply the violations of
security. Anyone can access the confidential information by just watching the type the password.

The potential damage to the individual user also relies on how much the person is interested in
the social networking site and how many details they are interested in sharing. Lapses in
the security on the social networks do not necessarily involve the violations of the
confidential information of any user (Petronio 2015). The reason that there are lapses in
the social network privacy and security is simply a consequence of the exorbitant amounts of
the information that the social media sites process every day, by making it much easier
for exploiting or violating the single system flaw.
For now, only if the people take more cautious approach to what they are posting and
how much could be addressed can the issues plaguing the social network security and privacy
concerns. According to Kafalı, Günay and Yolum 2014, with the development of social
networks, monitoring and protecting site users and the activity effectively becomes more
difficult because the security programmer’s tasks are becoming increasingly widespread. The
modern era has experienced numerous different security and privacy controversies through the
use of malware, phishing and spam emails but there are multiple distinct ways to invade
the privacy, which are not illegal technically. People can violate the privacy in the social media
in multiple ways such as:
Account impersonation and hacking
According to Mosteller and Poddar 2017, hackers, attackers and other cyber offenders are
constantly attacking the social networks. The compromised account on the social media makes
for the attractive target: when they will be able to get into the Twitter or Facebook account, they
can impersonate the person. Cyber criminals are keener in the profiles as it is a much more
efficient way for spreading malware, viruses and scams than some of the more conventional
spam email. People generally trust the social media friends for receiving messages. Without

thinking twice, they are much more likely in clicking links that can infect their computers then.
The private social media include a variety of personal information that can be used to access
credit card accounts on the behalf or misuse the digital identity otherwise.
Harassment and stalking
Not all risks to privacy of social media originate from outsiders. Individuals often turn
out to be about nice into anyone’s life. Internet harassment and cyber bullying are very pretty-
known threats, and they are easy in perpetrating on social media.
To be compelled in turning over passwords
According to the research done by Such and Criado 2018, there are circumstances in
which access to the social media accounts may be turned over to the user unfortunately. There
has also been a rising trend towards employers requesting access to the social media accounts
for ensuring that employees do not share confidential information or business secrets. A number
of efforts have been made at the state level for preventing the firms from requesting
the information. In 2016 alone, the behaviour has been targeted by 39 state bills. Unfortunately,
they failed in the large majority (Benenson, Girard and Krontiris 2015). All of this targeting has
a dark side. Facebook has already faced criticism of its ad targeting system, which has been
discriminated against certain kinds of people inappropriately in some instances.
Strike a balance between intrusion and effective marketing into privacy
According to Chen et al. 2015, Facebook, twitter and other social media sites are trying to
change, however between servicing their paid advertising partners and the social media users
there are conflicts of interests. It is hard to balance the desires of both, even if there is no

financial incentive in effect. As a consequence, further efforts at information collection and
privacy intrusions in targeted marketing reasons are likely to continue.
The protection of location-based services
Many social media users nowadays do not use the apps on the traditional system; they do
it on the smart phones. According to Marwick and Boyd 2014, the capacity for attacks to privacy
and security rises as the social media continues in taking advantage of the location-based
services and mobile devices. Indeed, most smart phones of the people are instantly continuously
collecting location information or data, and social media applications are some of the strongest
users of such an information or data (Buriro et al. 2015). Despite guidelines from fine-tuned
regulations and privacy laws, the social media services have plenty of space on how they are
using this material.
Risk and threats
According to Rathore et al. 2017, in the recent years, the concerns of the social media
users about the privacy have increased. Data breach incidents have warned multiple users and
forced the users for rethinking their social media interactions, friendship and relationships and
their personal information security. The growing concerns about privacy have given rise to
advocacy for tighter regulations. They have also placed companies in charge of the protection of
personal data under the greater scrutiny (Onaolapo, Mariconti and Stringhini 2016). Criminals
are capable of tricking users of the social media into the distributing confidential information,
stealing the private or personal data, and accessing accounts considered private by users. Typical
risks and threats to the social media follow:
Fake Requests from Spam Profiles

According to Gurajala et al. 2015, on the social media networking sites such as Twitter
Facebook and Instagram there are people who make fake identities and try to make spam with
the help of them. Such fake account users often lead to the introduction of dangerous harmful
malware into the company devices. For avoiding these types of serious issues, while using social
networking sites, one must remain alert.
Phishing Attempts
Phishing is the most common way in which the cyber criminals try to access the sensitive
personal data or information. According to the research done by Alam and El-Khatib 2016, the
phishing attack is frequently presented as the message from the legitimate organization in a form
of the email, any text message, or any phone call. These messages encourage the people to share
the private and sensitive data, including log in credentials, credit card or banking details.
Phishing attacks are often posed as the platforms for the social media networking sites.
Botnet Attacks
Social media bots are the automated accounts, which create the posts or follow the new
people automatically whenever any specific term is mentioned. The large group of bots may be
forming a botnet-known network. Botnets and bots are widespread in the social media and are
used for stealing information, launch DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks and send spam
that help the cyber criminals to access the networks and devices from people.
Data Mining
Everyone on the internet leaves their data and information trail behind. The users include
personal information any time anyone creates the new social media account, which can include
their name, date of birth, geographic place, and personal interests. Furthermore, the

companies collect the user behaviour data: where, when, and how the users communicate with
their platform. Organizations retain and manage all of the data or information for better target
their customers with ads (Baldimtsi and Lysyanskaya 2013). Occasionally, organizations share
that information of users with the third-party organizations, often without the consent or
knowledge of users.
Malware Sharing
According to Kunwar and Sharma 2016, malware is designed for gaining the computer
access and the information contained therein. Once a user’s device has been compromised by
malware, this can be used to capture sensitive data or spyware, extorting money or extortion, or
take advantage of forced adware. For malware producers, the social media platforms are
the perfect delivery system. Once an identity is hacked mostly by having passwords through
the phishing attack, the cyber criminals may take over the account and spread ransom ware to all
friends or associates of the consumer.
Mitigation of the threats
There are multiple techniques for mitigating the privacy risks on the social media
platforms in which some of the techniques are discussed below.
Potential protection of privacy
This allows the users to register intent for keeping the certain data private by creating the
reasonable expectation of the privacy and allows them for using the cryptographic tools, which
can reasonably be dependent on keeping information private.
Threat Analysis

According to Teodorescu 2015, the main feature of the system that safeguards the
anonymity of consumers is that social media rarely retains unencrypted communications or keys
and thus cannot retrieve contact information (Apostolopoulos 2013). Nonetheless, the social
networking sites servers still have considerable confidence as they inherently operate as
intermediaries. This will help in replacing the user’s public keys with their own passwords, so
that private messages can be decrypted.
Integrity and Confidentiality of User Post
According to Boorman et al. 2014, a method is developed for showing the measure of the
privacy and security for ensuring the confidentiality of the data or information and the integrity
among asocial network users. The algorithm for the encryption uses the asymmetric and
symmetric algorithms to encode the plain text into cypher text for the better privacy purpose.
Next, the algorithm for the Message Authentication Code is used to initially encrypt the user
message.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology
Introduction
Research Methodology involves various research methods or techniques that are used by
the researchers to conduct a research study. This methods allow the researchers to assemble,
evaluate as well as collect the data required for the research study. The research methodology is
mainly applicable for two kinds of research process that include applied research and basic
research. Research methodology is used to verify the selected theories or models. The
verification of the selected models and theories allow the researchers to complete and justify
their research conclusions. This chapter allows the readers to determine the research activities

used to achieve the research objectives (Mackey and Gass 2015). This is a significant chapter of
this research study where the researchers showcased the research methods as well as they
provided justification for the chosen research methods.
Research philosophy
Research philosophy primarily showcases the nature, development and source of the
knowledge. In simple words, research philosophy is the collection of beliefs regarding the
collection, evaluation and study of data. The research philosophy is used to formulate the beliefs
of the researchers as well as the assumptions considered to conduct a research study. Research
Philosophy can be of three types, namely, positivism, realism and interpretivism. The positivism
research philosophy helps the researcher to locate the issues related to this research study. The
realism research philosophy is the mixture of other two research philosophies (Flick 2015). The
interpretivism research philosophy is applicable for business management and methods. The
interpretivism research philosophy is also applicable to those researches where the researchers
need to monitor the market scenario which provide a wider perspective of the research.
Justification for chosen research philosophy
The researchers chose positivism research philosophy in this research as it help the
investigators to analyze the research study. The impact or the effect of the social media on an
person’s privacy is determined in a critical as well as logical manner. Interpretivism is not
obeyed in this research study as this research philosophy is totally dependent on human
perception and it can vary from one person to another. A single privacy issue can be a problem
for every OSNs users and can exploit numerous users data. Thus, the positivism research
philosophy allows the investigators to easily analyze the effectiveness of the social media on
people’s privacy.

Research approach
Research Approach is the procedure and plan of the researchers which comprises of the
steps of wide assumptions made for collecting, analyzing and presenting research data. Research
approach is decided or chosen depending on the research problem and research objectives.
Research approaches can be broadly divided into two types inductive and deductive where the
inductive research approach basically deals with the new list of theories. The deductive research
approach basically deals with the existing models and theories (Walter and Andersen 2013).
These research approaches permit the investigators to style the research topic in a proper method.
Justification for selected research approach
The investigators chosen the deductive research approach for conducting this research as
it helped the researchers to analyze and study every key areas of the research object. The
deductive approach also allow the research to consider all possible research areas of this study.
The deductive approach also helped them to prepare the collect data on the basis of the gathered
literature knowledge. The inductive research approach is not obeyed in this research study the
new model and theories can generate high complexity for the investigators to complete their
research. The deductive model also allow them to conclude the chosen research topic.
Research Design
The research design is referred as the list of techniques and methods selected by the
researchers to mix several research components in a logical way so that the study problem can be
handled easily. The research design can assess the research questions for the researchers. The
research designs utilized to describe the research kind. Therefore, three types of research design
are there. Firstly, descriptive research design which is used by the researchers to gain sufficient

knowledge about the various methods and approaches in a descriptive way. The second research
design is known as the exploratory research design where the researchers conduct the research on
the basis of the research hypothesis (Ledford and Gast 2018). Finally, the third type of the
research design is the explanatory research design which is applied to know the relation between
multiple research variables.
Justification for selected research design
The effectiveness of social media on people’s privacy could be measured by the
descriptive research design and thus the researchers selected this research design in this
particular research study, as it helps the researchers to gain an in depth study on the research
topic as well as allow them to draw definite conclusions about the effectiveness of the social
media on the people’s privacy.
Sampling and Data Collection Method
The research was done by collecting primary data. The primary data was collected in the
form of survey process. The survey process was participated by 50 OSN users and they were
asked to give their views according to the provided questionnaires. The researchers use random
sampling technique (Weigold, Weigold and Russell 2013). The primary data was collected for
better understanding of the research topic. The participants provided their experience while
communicating through social media networks. The privacy concerns
Data Analysis Method
The researchers converted the gathered the data in the percentage form and then the
numeric percentage are plotted as the graphs, charts and tables (Thomson and Emery 2014). This
graphical representation helps the investigators to conclude the chosen research topic.

Research Ethical Considerations
The whole research was conducted in an ethical way, where the research did not hamper
any people’s reputation. In the survey process the participants were not forced to be part of the
process as well as they were allow to draw their participant at any point of time (Graham et al.
2013). The survey paper did not contain any sort of logo thus did not promote any institution or
organization. Thus, few strict ethical guidelines were followed thorough out the research.
Research Limitations
The researchers faced numerous challenges in completing the research successfully. The
major problem was the tight pack schedule. The research could be more enhanced if the
researchers got more time to research on the effectiveness of the social media on the people’s
privacy (Shipman 2014). The budget was also a challenge for the researchers as more budget
could allow them to research in a more enhanced manner.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis
The survey was done among 50 OSNs users.
Question 1: Mention your Gender
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
Male 20 40 % 50
Female 30 60 % 50

Figure 4.1: Mention your Gender
The survey report showcased that 30 female OSN users participated in the survey process
and remaining 20 participants were male.
Question 2: Please specify your age
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
Below 20 years 10 20 % 50
21-30 years 6 12 % 50
31- 40 years 23 46 % 50
41-50 years 6 12 % 50
Above 51 years 5 10 % 50

Figure 4.2: Please specify your age
The survey reported that 10 participants belong to below 10 years age group, 6
participants belong to 21 to 30 years age group, 23 participants belong to 31 to 40 years age
group, 6 participants belong to 41 to 50 years age group and remaining 5 participants were of
above 51 years.
Question 3: Why do you use social media?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
To connect with
friends
9 18 % 50
To connect with new
people who have
similar interests
7 14 % 50
To express my
opinion or share my
knowledge on a
subject
23 46 % 50
I use different social
media platforms for
different purposes
6 12 % 50
I don't use social
media
5 10 % 50

Figure 4.3: Why do you use social media?
The survey reported the purpose of using the social media where 9 of the users use social media
for connecting with their friends, 7 of the users use social media for connecting with new
peoples, 23 of the users use social media for sharing their knowledge among their friends, 6 of
the users use social media for several purposes and remaining 5 participants replied that they use
social media in rare.
Question 4: How do you manage the privacy settings of your social media accounts?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
My privacy is friends
only
9 18 % 50
I know various
privacy settings but
do not bother
10 20 % 50
I do not know how to
change settings
24 48 % 50
I don't use social
media
7 14 % 50

Figure 4.4: How do you manage the privacy settings of your social media accounts?
The survey reported that 9 of the participants manage their privacy settings by accessing
control on their own posts, 10 of the participants were not aware of the privacy settings, 24
participants do not know how to change settings and remaining 7 participants use OSN in rare.
Question 5: Are your Facebook and Twitter status update messages or blog posts you post
in social media, visible to all internet users?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
All social media posts
are public
9 18 % 50
I do not post personal
data
9 18 % 50

I change privacy to
selected people
22 44 % 50
My privacy shortcuts
are private
5 10 % 50
I don’t publish
anything online
5 10 % 50
Figure 4.5: Are your Facebook and Twitter status update messages or blog posts
you post in social media, visible to all internet users?
The survey reported that 9 of the participants said that all social media posts are public, 9
of the participants said that they do not post personal data, 22 participants said that they change
privacy to selected people, 5 of the participants said that their privacy shortcuts are private and
remaining 5 participants replied that they do not post in the social media.

Question 6: Do you present your views on products, services, companies or brands by the
help of social media?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
Always when I have
something to say
9 18 % 50
Sometimes 13 26 % 50
I have but only on a
few occasions
17 34 % 50
Have never done it
but would consider it
5 10 % 50
Have never done it
and would not
consider it
6 12 % 50
Figure 4.6: Do you present your views on products, services, companies or brands
by the help of social media?
The survey reported that 9 participants always provide their views on companies, products,
services or brands through social media, 13 participants rarely provide their views on companies,
products, services or brands through social media, 17 participants provide their views on
companies, products, services or brands through social media on some specific occasion, 5
participants never provide their views on companies, products, services or brands through social

media but they can provide their views on the companies, products, services or brands through
social media in future and remaining 6 participants never provide their views on companies,
products, services or brands through social media and they will never provide their views on the
companies, products, services or brands through social media in future.
Question 7: Provide your views regarding scraping of data in social media?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
Strongly approve 10 20 % 50
Approve 12 24 % 50
Don’t Care 17 34 % 50
Disapprove 4 8 % 50
Strongly Disapprove 7 14 % 50

Figure 4.7: Provide your views regarding scraping of data in social media?
The survey reported that maximum people don’t care regarding the publicly accessible data.
Question 8: Provide recommendation to stop the scraping of data in social media?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
Utilizing data at
public domain
11 22 % 50
Anonymous data 17 34 % 50
User data permission 13 26 % 50
No tagging during
use of data
9 18 % 50

Figure 4.8: Provide recommendation to stop the scraping of data in social media?
The survey recommended that companies can make the data anonymous before using it.
Question 9: Are you concerned with the use of the information?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
Very concerned 10 20 % 50
Fairly concerned 19 38 % 50
Not very concerned 9 18% 50
Not at all concerned 3 6 % 50
Don't Know 9 18 % 50

Figure 4.9: Are you concerned with the use of the information?
Question 10: Do you believe that your explicit approval should be required before any sort
of personal information is collected and processed?
Options Responses Responses % Total responses
In all cases 12 24 % 50
Requirement of
private data over
online.
16 32 % 50
When personal data
is required in either
online or offline
10 20 % 50
No 5 10 % 50
Don’t Know 7 14 % 50
Figure: 4.10: Do you believe that your explicit approval should be required before
any sort of personal information is collected and processed?
The survey reported that maximum participants believe that requirement of private data
over online.

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
Conclusion
It can be concluded that social media has both positive and negative impact on human
life. Social media has been helpful in promoting knowledge, thoughts, career interests, ideas and
other forms of expression along virtual networks and communities. It has been an online network
of community which is devoted to feedbacks, exchange of thoughts, communication and
collaborations. Users used to connect to social media with the help of laptops, mobiles and tabs.
Users used to communicate with other individuals across the world. Customers used to
communicate with other individuals with the help of social networking sites. They use these
networks to chat and share their details over the social media. Therefore, this has been a
problem for users to lose their privacy. There have been various data breach cases reported in
the study. Many individuals have been facing personal data breach over the social media. Illegal
use of social media has been increased in these years. The new areas of the techno self-studies
concentrate on these developments. Social media varies from the paper-based media such
as newspapers or magazines and mainstream the electronic media such as radio broadcasting,
television broadcasting in many respects, including quality, scope, duration, interactivity,
accessibility, immediacy, and efficiency. There have been various social media platforms
including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. These social media websites have been
reported many privacy issues. There have been huge influx of personal information with public.
This research has identified negative effects of social media over the years. When social media
information is shared, it is no longer private information. There are multiple cases where
especially young people share their personal information or data that may attract predators.
Various concerns related to the privacy issues have been an important issue in social media. The

literature review has helped in identifying several privacy issues in the social media based on
previous studies. Previous studies have concentrated on usability of social media and its impact
on users. Studies suggest that people tends to keep their lives secret, but otherwise imply their
behavior on the social media. , the social networking sites servers still have considerable
confidence as they inherently operate as intermediaries. The users include personal information
any time anyone creates the new social media account, which can include their name, date of
birth, geographic place, and personal interests. Furthermore, the companies collect the user
behavior data: where, when, and how the users communicate with their platform. Social media
has been causing issues in sharing private information of the user. This will help in replacing the
user’s public keys with their own passwords, so that private messages can be decrypted. Another
consideration is the lack of knowledge about how open the posts of the social media are. Many
people on social media who have been blamed for the inappropriate comments claimed they did
not realize that someone in their friend circles will read the post; in addition, their material is
exchanged with the wide audience on certain social media websites, unless a person chooses
higher privacy settings. Individuals have been facing issues with fake ids and reuse of their
personal information on either websites illegally. This research has helped out in identifying such
issues in social media websites. Female users have been facing harassment over the social media
websites. This research has focused on identifying security measures for mitigating these social
media issues.
This research has selected a quantitative approach in order to collect data and information
related to the study. The use of primary data collected from online survey has helped in
analyzing statistical data based on the research. The research shows that most of the social

media users have been female. Female has been facing more issues with over the social media
platforms. Data analysis has been done with the help of statistical method and Likert scale.
Recommendations
There are various recommendation that might help in securing privacy and data over the
social media.
Strong passwords: Passwords of social media accounts need to be strong. Strong
passwords comprises more than 8 characters that include combination of alphabets, numbers,
characters and symbols. This help in providing extra security to the accounts from being hacked
by hackers.
Not sharing personal information: It has been strictly recommended that users must not
share their personal information to other individuals over social media network. Users need to be
active during chatting with other users over the social media network. Therefore, they can be
safe over the social media networks.
Fake URLs: Users must not click on random links provided as advertisements over the
social media networks. Hackers used to provide fake links based on search of users over the
social media platforms. When users clicks over these fake links, login credentials are sent to
hackers. Therefore, users need not to click ion random links over the social media platforms.
Various links are posted on the social media which has been fake and can cause privacy issues
for users.
Two factor authentication: Users need to have two factor authentication function on over
their social media networks. This help in encrypting chats and messages between two users.
Encryption helps increasing security of data and information during its transfer. This allows

the users to register intent for keeping the certain data private by creating the reasonable
expectation of the privacy and allows them for using the cryptographic tools, which can
reasonably be dependent on keeping information private.

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