Title: The war on Facebook: privacy on social networks

Authors: Jan André Blackburn-Cabrera

Addresses: Fauteux Hall, 57 Louis Pasteur St., Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada

Abstract: In the past seven years, Facebook has been constantly reviewing its privacy policy, with regards to the information it shares about its users and the information users share online. Like in any social network, Facebook users are at great risk when using the platform. This paper will analyse Facebook|s |Privacy| settings and the implications to its users. It will depict problems with the platform, specifically privacy options that were eliminated. The paper will also analyse the legal implications of deficient privacy policies in the social network business model (which thrives on |connections|). It will also provide recommendations for CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding changes to the privacy settings and the visibility of these settings on his site. There have been various attempts to regulate internet privacy through complaints against Facebook, both in Canada and the USA. The current regulatory framework for the social network is inadequate and the recommendations put forth in this paper are needed to address an important lacuna in this regulatory area of privacy online.

Keywords: Facebook; social media; internet; world wide web; blogs; blogging; social networking; networks; privacy settings; privacy policies; Mark Zuckerberg; information sharing; information users; virtual communities; web based communities; online communities; e-communities; electronic communities; web platforms; risk; privacy options; legal implications; business models; connections; settings visibility; internet regulation; Canada; USA; United States; regulatory frameworks; liability; scientific enquiry.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSE.2011.044086

International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry, 2011 Vol.4 No.4, pp.281 - 304

Published online: 29 Nov 2014 *

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