Masking in Social Network Sites — Translating a Real-World Social Practice to the Online Domain

Abstract Research shows that most social network sites contain serious privacy risks for users. Many of these risks revolve around users´ inability to know exactly who the “audience” is that witnesses their online behaviours. In this article we argue that in the offline world individuals regularly use the strategy of “masking” to hide their visibility when the composition of their audience is unknown. We claim that “masking” should also be facilitated in social network sites to enhance users´ privacy-protection. However, SNSs´ platform design, focused on self-presentation, makes its implementation difficult. Zusammenfassung Die meisten sozialen Netze stellen bedeutende Datenschutzrisiken für die Benutzer dar. Viele dieser Risiken hängen damit zusammen, dass Benutzer nicht genau den “Zuschauerkreis” kennen, welcher ihr Online-Verhalten beobachten kann. In der realen Welt verwenden Menschen die Strategie der “Maskierung” um ihre Anwesenheit zu verstecken, falls der Zuschauerkreis unbekannt ist. Wir behaupten, dass die “Maskierung” auch in sozialen Netzen als Datenschutztechnik dem Benutzer zur Verfügung stehen sollte. Dies ist jedoch schwierig, da Soziale Netze auf Selbstdarstellung ausgerichtet sind.

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