With a little help from my friends: can social navigation inform interpersonal privacy preferences?

ABSTRACTRecent privacy controversies surrounding social networking sites demonstrate that the mere availability of settings is not enough for effective privacy management. We investigated whether the aggregated privacy choices of one's social circle might guide users in making informed privacy decisions. We conducted an experiment in which users specified preferences for six privacy-relevant settings in Instant Messaging. In one condition, users were provided with information indicating the privacy preferences of the majority of their ``buddies." Our results suggest that while this information did influence user choices, the effect was secondary to that of the ``privacy-sensitivity" of the system feature controlled by the particular setting. Frequency of IM usage was also associated with privacy choices. The experiment data coupled with user comments suggest several usability improvements in interfaces for specifying privacy preferences.