Summary
Nick Hajli and Xiaolin Lin wrote the article “Exploring the security of information sharing on social networking sites,” which focuses on how the social networking site (SNS) causes a threat to privacy and ethical conduct. The authors begin the article with a declaration of how the SNS collects users’ information such as usernames, passwords, Email addresses, locations, and dates of birth. The collected data is then used globally without the owner’s knowledge. The SNS is a social media platform such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where users share their daily activities and other content. Hajli and Lin (2016) explain how this shared content is collected and used for business marketing without the users’ consent. The authors drive most of their arguments by appealing to the danger that the SNS can cause (Lin & Hajli, 2013). For instance, the users’ private information collected can be used for scams, and identity theft, and help the businesses in decision-making and trend analysis.
Assessment
The issue presented by Hajli and Lin (2016) is relevant because social media is not only a platform for users to obtain information but also a space to communicate with other people. The degree of a user’s interpersonal trust with other individuals is a significant factor that affects the experience of using social media. The interpersonal network trust develops if the user of SNS is convinced that by sharing the information, others can protect their private information on social media.
Several studies have shown that the level of online interpersonal trust is negatively related to the privacy protection measures that individuals take when interacting with others on social media. In the use of social media, studies have shown that when users have a high degree of trust in other users on social media, the perceived risks of users, their psychological defenses, and their privacy concerns are reduced, which in turn is more likely to cause information disclosure. That is why it is true, as indicated in the article, that SNS users are concerned with their privacy and security. Thus, there is a need for users to protect their private information while on the SNS platform.
Hajli and Lin (2016) reveal that the user’s perceived control plays a significant role in determining the customer’s activity behavior. However, this control cannot meet the user’s expectations of privacy and security. Having privacy when an individual needs it is an essential asset to most customers. Consumers need reassurance that they can freely and safely access their personal information. The SNS allows users to control their data and privacy, but most people are unaware of the information control. The article argues that this ignorance is vital because the perceived control in SNS users’ context is the most significant factor affecting people’s privacy concerns. The authors also state that the SNS users’ privacy risk has a relationship with their usage behavior. This privacy risk influences individuals’ psychological perception and intention to interact with information technology.
The issue of ignorance ought to be emphasized because it predisposes the users to privacy issues. Privacy protection in traditional society can be achieved through notification and permission, obscuration, and anonymization. However, in the era of big data, massive data and related analysis of data make privacy protection threatened. This means that even if the user authorizes Facebook and its third-party consumers to utilize its information to a certain extent, the information is often used beyond the handler’s reasonable expectations. But for Facebook customers and society as a whole, the way social media platforms consume data is a black box, and the risk of privacy leakage is also difficult to know. Such cases as Cambridge Analytica in 2018 indicate that user information may be utilized to influence political elections (Isaak & Hanna, 2018). The abuse of big data analysis techniques may also lead to discrimination against certain groups, such as ignoring social media in the policy-making process and discouraging them from actively participating in the Internet. Data storage, collection, and profit-making parties are all social media platforms. In the face of privacy incidents, penalties for social media mainly come from the regulatory authorities. In 2011, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a consumer protection agency, pointed out that Facebook made false statements about the privacy and security of user information (Lin & Hajli, 2013).
According to Hajli and Lin (2016), privacy breach has different effects on attitudes across gender. Women are most likely to be affected because of their emotional characteristics. As such, their attitude and levels of concern about privacy risks escalate more than men’s ones. Nevertheless, men are risk-takers and are not affected as much. Men primarily consider SNS as a proper communication channel but not a suitable platform for self-portrayal. In contrast, women appear to be compelled by a more self-indulgent reason for self-presentation, making them more concerned about how their followers see them. This is also clear in today’s generation, whereby women use profile pictures to impress their friends more often than men do. The article argues that females reveal more personal details on online platforms as compared to men. This, according to the findings, makes women vulnerable to cyberbullying and attacks.
The article argues that peoples’ attitudes toward partaking in information are associated with their motives to part the data online (Lin & Hajli, 2013). The authors learned that attitude positively impacts behavior, intention, and decisions in different areas, such as technology adoption. The article states that individuals’ behavior intention has a relationship with their actual behavior. People will share information regarding SNS if they have a significant purpose to send data on the online platform. In other words, the attitude has a positive relationship with intending to share information on social network sites.
Critical Thinking
The role of information technology in this article is to provide an efficient and effective means of communication and protection against malicious activities. Because of technological advancement, keeping information secure has been achieved, but only to some level. 80% of the breaches are a result of a stolen password (Hajli & Lin, 2016). The attacker steals the password through various methods such as phishing, key logger, guessing the weak password, and evil twin Wi-Fi. Therefore, Information Technology (IT) has devised different options people can take to help safeguard their data, such as changing their password more often and paying attention to the online platforms and peculiar hyperlinks to avoid clicking.
IT plays a significant role in providing security and training to people to evade black hackers (Lin & Hajli, 2013). User behavior is a vital step in keeping business information secure; thus, adopting a cybersecurity culture can help manage user behavior. IT is also essential in identifying and protecting high-value assets and information, detecting malicious activity on time, employing high skilled cybersecurity workers, and acquiring and deploying existing and emerging technology. Therefore, to increase personal privacy, an individual should follow the IT security policies and cybersecurity culture. The IT security policies include performing security updates promptly, separating unrelated networks, keeping passwords secret, and using multi-factor authentication. If all the SNS users follow the IT security policies and cybersecurity culture, it will be challenging for the hackers to attack individuals and cause damage.
References
Hajli, N., & Lin, X. (2016). Exploring the security of information sharing on social networking sites: The role of perceived control of information. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(1), 111−123.
Isaak, J., & Hanna, M. J. (2018). User data privacy: Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, and privacy protection. Computer, 51(8), 56−59.
Lin, X., & Hajli, M. (2013). Information sharing on social networking sites: The role of perceived control of information and gender. Web.