Privacy and Confidentiality: Social Applications - Essay Example

Privacy and Confidentiality: Social Applications This paper presents an analysis and discussion of the concepts of confidentiality and privacy as pertains to social applications. The paper therefore reviews past literature through a secondary research approach. The methods and results of past literature on the issue of confidentiality and privacy of these applications are analyzed and presented. The paper also justified the type of research used and appropriate solutions that are to be implemented in order to safeguard the private or personal data of users of social applications from the infringement of privacy and confidentiality. Privacy and Confidentiality: Social Applications Introduction Legal frameworks and ethical standards of various nations protect the interests of the users of social applications such as search engines and wikis in regard to their privacy and confidentiality of personal information. This includes protection of user information from unauthorized access, use or sale of confidential data by hackers. The designers and administrators of social applications are therefore mandated to ensure that private data on users is treated with utmost confidentiality. Regardless of this, the privacy and confidentiality of user information has been infringed by being exposed to unintended or unauthorized parties and used for unintended purposes by system attackers. This essay gives a critical analysis and discussion of the privacy and confidentiality of data and information within social applications including blogs, social networking applications, blogs and wikis. The paper includes a comprehensive review of literature with an aim of giving a background analysis of the research on the topic. Past literature within journals, conference and workshop papers are analyzed including the methodologies used by the investigators on confidentiality and privacy within social applications. The proposed approach for an investigation into the privacy and confidentiality of data within social applications is also presented within this essay. The paper is based on the assumption that the breach of privacy and confidentiality of users is the greatest challenge that is facing social applications. Background and Literature Review Surveys on privacy and confidentiality within social networking applications and text chats reveal that these two aspects are considered to be an ethical standard and the recognized around which the development, maintenance and use of social applications should be based (Belanger & Crossler, 2011). Qualitative studies on legal frameworks and regulations on privacy and confidentiality reveal that these aspects are considered as one of the most important and fundamental rights of individuals as pertains to the management of private data and information especially that of electronic format (Heng, Dinev, Smith & Hart, 2011). Among the several social applications, less than half are considered to be adherent to the legal and ethical frameworks on the collection and use of private information within social applications (Smith, Dinev & Xu, 2011). This reflects that there is a significant problem within these applications as pertains with the safety of user information from unauthorized disclosure and use. A review of past literature reveals several understanding and definition of the concepts of confidentiality and privacy. However researchers agree that confidentiality is one of the ethical duties of organizations or systems which are related to their obligation for safeguarding user information that is entrusted upon them from unauthorized use or disclosure (Belanger & Crossler, 2011). The ethical duty also includes as obligation of systems for protecting such information from unlawful access, loss, modification or theft. The ability of organizations and systems to adhere to the confidentiality obligations defines their integrity and credibility in line to their roles in meeting the needs and interests of their clients (Heng, Dinev, Smith & Hart, 2011). In this regard therefore it is evident that the problem of lost confidentiality among social applications includes theft and loss of user data which is often used for unauthorized purposes such as online advertising. Smith, Dinev & Xu (2011) define privacy as the right of an individual which defines his or her freedom from being interfered or intruded by other persons. In a freely democratic economy or society, privacy is argued to be one of the fundamental rights of individuals. In the use of social applications, the issue of privacy is comprehended in relation to the interests of an individual that concerns the privacy of their personal and private data or information (Brandtzæg, Luders & Skjetne, 2010). In this regard, the control of information about an individual is argued to be one of the major concerns in privacy which is related to the use of social applications and technology in general (Smith, Dinev & Xu, 2011). It is postulated that social applications take advantage of the fact that the administrators of these applications have access to the personal details of users and infringe their privacy and confidentiality (Heng, Dinev, Smith & Hart, 2011). It is therefore notable that users have limited control over their personal data when it comes to the use of social applications. The security measures which are designed by social applications such as social network applications, blogs and wikis are said to be less adequate in protecting the data and information of the users from unauthorized access and use especially by marketers (Belanger & Crossler, 2011). This therefore demonstrates that the breach of privacy and confidentiality which related to the use of the social media application is generally attributed to the lack of appropriate security measures and protection of personal data from access and use by a third party who is not authorized by the user. Loopholes within social applications which cause such breaches of privacy and confidentiality include inadequate administrative safeguards. Technical safeguards are also said to be less appropriate within social applications which makes the data of the users to be at risk of access, distribution and use for unauthorized purposes (Stanaland, May & Miyazaki, 2011). The confidential duties of the administrators of social applications such as collaborative software and search engines has been illustrated as less thorough in the adoption and implementation of the various security applications and measures which are related to the security of private and personal data of users (Smith, Dinev & Xu, 2011). In return many users have complained that a security breach that targets their personal data has caused them to incur consequences such as fraud which results from unwanted phishing emails that they receive from hackers and attackers of the social applications and sites. The causes of such security breaches and infringement of privacy and confidentiality of user data within this applications is demonstrated to be lack of proper security policies, standards and rules among the administrators of these applications and sites (Heng, Dinev, Smith & Hart, 2011). This has led to a situation where the privacy and confidentiality of user data is not the major concern by the administrative framework of social sites and the consequential loss and unauthorized use of private data and information of the users. The participants of social applications and their resultant sites have been affected more by the privacy and confidentiality problem. This is attributed to the fact that these applications are often used when an individual has subscribed an account within the social sites (Brandtzæg, Luders & Skjetne, 2010). This subscription requires that the users provide private and confidential data. The users assume that the social applications and their sites have installed and implemented adequate security measures which make them confident to provide personal data in the process of creating accounts with these sites (Heng, Dinev, Smith & Hart, 2011). The users realize later that the privacy and confidentiality of their personal data has been violated because their data is used by third parties for reasons that the users did not intend. Qualitative studies on social applications reveal that the credibility of the application is significantly determined by the level of security that is implemented by the administrators of the sited upon which the applications are used. This reveals that the privacy and confidentiality of user data should be the major consideration in the design and implementation of these applications within the social networking sites. A comparative analysis of social applications such as text chats, wikis, search engines of social sites and social bookmarking revels that user information such as age, educational background, ethnicity, religion, life experience and social status is often among the requirements of subscribing to the sites which run these applications. This kind of information is considered to be private and confidential for an individual (Smith, Dinev & Xu, 2011). However these sited has infringed the privacy and confidentiality of such data by lack of adequate security measures and policies to safeguard it from unauthorized access and use by third parties. It is however argued that it is the social nature of these applications which causes them to be less secure from access of private data and information by third parties (Brandtzæg, Luders & Skjetne, 2010). On the other hand the designers of social applications are mandated by the ethical and legal frameworks to secure user data from access, theft and use by third parties as one of their important obligations (Anderson, 2012). Proposed Approach Type of Research A secondary research was carried out in investigating the concepts of privacy and confidentiality within social applications through access to online databases within electronic libraries such as Ebsco and Proquest. The choice of secondary research in conducting the investigation is based on the ease of access to secondary data within journal articles, conference papers, venue publications and workshop papers on social applications and the level of their security and confidentiality for user data and information. The access of the secondary resources was achieved through online search within online databases and libraries. Online sources of secondary data represent a source of vast source of variety of information material on various topics which would be used by researchers to meet their research objectives through comparative analysis and discussion on past finding on the area under investigation (Vartanian, 2011). The application of online sources of secondary data in the investigation was also motivated by the convenience of research which is achieved through this approach. The secondary approach is a relatively less costly approach to investigation when compared to the primary research method (Vartanian, 2011). This is one of the main justifications for the choice of the secondary research on investigating the confidentiality and privacy of social applications. The use of the past research on the topic in this study is also attributed to the role of secondary research as an appropriate way through which a clarification of the objectives of a study can be achieved. Therefore the privacy and confidentiality issues within social applications as presented by past research reports allowed the investigation to clarify the issues that were to be discussed and covered in line with the objectives and aim of the investigation. The secondary research was applied in the investigation of privacy and confidentiality issues within social applications because it takes less time as compared to a primary approach to research (Vartanian, 2011). Moreover the secondary research on the topic allowed an evaluation of the effectiveness of the methods and approaches used by past researchers on the topic in order to determine their appropriateness. In this regard, the secondary research allowed the investigator to identify the gaps in literature which are associated with this form of research as a way through which implications and proposals for future research on the topic were based. More importantly the secondary research allowed the utilization of the credible sources within secondary database for achieving the aims of the study. Furthermore a comparative analysis of various resources within the secondary databases was achieved through the secondary research. This led to accurate and informed conclusions on the issues of privacy and confidentiality within social applications and social sites. Solutions, Limitations and Future Research In order to ensure a high level of confidentiality and security of the personal data and information of users of social applications, it is necessary for the administrative framework to design and implement and effective security policy (Belanger & Crossler, 2011). This means that encryption of user data and the implementation of appropriate cryptographic approaches should be employed by the social application. This is attributed to the security loopholes which characterize the internet upon which the social applications are used. It is also proposed that the privacy and confidentiality of user data is regarded as the most important aspect of social applications. This will ensure the administrative tools of these applications to ensure that the needs of the users for privacy and confidentiality of their personal data are met effectively. The administrators of social applications and sites must effectively manage their assets such as data banks. This will prevent unauthorized access and use of private data. In this sense, the users of these applications will be protected from the negative implications of security breaches such as fraud, stalking and malice. Moreover the legal and ethical framework in the use of data within social applications should be enforced. This is aimed at ensuring that the user data is protected from unauthorized access, theft and use by third parties (Heng, Dinev, Smith & Hart, 2011). Moreover, enforcement of the legal and ethical framework will mandate the administrators of the social applications within social sites to prioritize the concepts of confidentiality and privacy of user data and information. In addition, appropriate management of the communication processes within social applications is a solution for the excessive exposure of user information and data to third parties. In addition, the access of other users to personal data and information within social applications should be restricted to the required level. More significantly though, risk assessment of the security threats which face social applications must be conducted as an approach through which security measures can be designed and implemented to protect user data from possible security breaches. Conclusion In light of the above analysis and discussion, it is evident that privacy and confidentiality within social applications is a big concern among users as reflected and reported within research literature and scholarly papers. This concern is associated with the fact that the security measures that are employed by social applications in safeguarding private data of users are less effective and inadequate. This is demonstrated by past literature reports of infringement of privacy and confidentiality of user information within various social applications. The breach of privacy and confidentiality of user data is associated with unauthorized entry into user accounts or databases of the social application. This leads to theft, use, modification or dissemination of private data without the authority of the users of these applications. It is because of this that the administrative frameworks of these applications should design and implement an appropriate security policy and measures that will guarantee the protection of user data from loss of privacy and confidentiality rights. Furthermore the legal and ethical framework on confidentiality and privacy within social applications should be prioritized and enforced in order to effectively solve this problem. References Anderson, K. (2012). Social media a new way to care and communicate. Australian Nursing Journal, 20(3), 22-25. Belanger, F., & Crossler, R. E. (2011). Privacy in the Digital Age: A Review of Information Privacy Research in Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 35(4), 1017-A36. Brandtzæg, P., Luders, M., & Skjetne, J. (2010). Too Many Facebook Friends? Content Sharing and Sociability versus the Need for Privacy in Social Network Sites. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 26(11/12), 1006-1030 Heng, X., Dinev, T., Smith, J., & Hart, P. (2011). Information Privacy Concerns: Linking Individual Perceptions with Institutional Privacy Assurances. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 12(12), 798-824. Smith, H., Dinev, T., & Xu, H. (2011). Information Privacy Research: An Interdisciplinary Review. MIS Quarterly, 35(4), 980-A27. Stanaland, A. S., May O., L., & Miyazaki, A. D. (2011). Online Privacy Trustmarks. Journal of Advertising Research, 51(3), 511-523. Vartanian, T. P. (2011). Secondary data analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More