User Awareness and Privacy Regarding Instant Games on Facebook.

On social networking sites (SSN) such as Facebook, users tend to share information and engage with third-party applications (apps). However, how knowledgeable, and aware, are users with regard to using a third-party service or app on Facebook? That is, do users really understand what information gets accessed, collected, and how Facebook shares their data with these integrated third-party apps/services? In this paper, Instant Games (IG), which are third-party apps on Facebook, were used to evaluate the user's understanding and awareness with respect to the following four core domains - data sharing, data collection, permission settings, and privacy policy. Findings showed that users, to a certain extent, understand that their personal information is been shared; however, they are not fully aware of the details regardingwhat information is being shared, accessed, and collected by the game apps. Furthermore, users are not fully aware with whom their data are being shared or who owns the game with which their social media profile and other personal data are being shared. An online survey was used to collect the data, and gameplay activity was done by the users using the Facebook mobile app. The contributions in this paper are a key step towards understanding the user's perception regarding data sharing, privacy policy, and privacy control options relating to IG. In addition, the research helps to uncover privacy concerns relating to IG that demonstrate a need for further study and research.