simulating online privacy. ethno-computational insights
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Sunbelt XXXII presentation by Paola Tubaro and Antonio A. Casilli, 18 March 2012TRANSCRIPT
Simulating online privacy
Simulating online privacyEthno-computational insights
Paola Tubaro1 Antonio A. Casilli2
1University of Greenwich, London
2TELECOM ParisTech and EHESS, Paris
Sunbelt XXXII, 18 March 2012
Simulating online privacyIntroduction
The privacy challenge in social media
Periodic privacy incidents on FB;Alleged tendency to renounceprivacy for an open, connectedexistence;Mark Zuckerberg: ”Public is thenew social norm”;Are we approaching the “End ofPrivacy” as we know it?The notion of publicness fromJürgen Habermas. . . to Jeff Jarvis.
Simulating online privacyIntroduction
Preliminary ethnographic evidence
FB ethnography
Small data approach;Experiment: create two profiles;Invite 100 contacts to becomefriends;One of the two profiles discloses,the other is a control profile;FB friends provide feedback on howto enrich and develop profile(comments, messages, likes, shares,etc.);Compare the two profiles over 50days.
A.A. Casilli (2010) Les liaisons numériques. Vers une nouvelle sociabilité ? Paris, Seuil.
Simulating online privacyIntroduction
Preliminary ethnographic evidence
The importance of disclosure on FB
Compare social graphs of twoprofiles;Personal network of actual profilecontinues to grow in size anddisplays a distinctive balancebetween social cohesion (bonding)and social connectedness(bridging);Disclosure is crucial: does thisnecessarily validate the‘End-of-privacy’ hypothesis?
A.A. Casilli (2010) Les liaisons numériques. Vers une nouvelle sociabilité ? Paris, Seuil.
Simulating online privacyIntroduction
Theoretical framework
Problematizing privacy
In fact, online interactions complexifythe very notion of privacy;
Traditional notion based on metaphorof concentric circles of intimacy;Mono-directional notion (Brandeis): acore of sensitive data to be protected.
⇒ This notion no longer seems welladapted to interactions in a networked
society.
Simulating online privacyIntroduction
Theoretical framework
Privacy as a multi-directional, dynamic process
Online privacy better describedthrough multi-directional notionof privacy as regulation(Altman);Brunswik’s lens model:Individuals send signals to, andreceive feedback from, theenvironment.
⇒ Self-disclosure accompaniesadaptation to signals from the(social) environment over time.
Simulating online privacyIntroduction
Research question
Research question
In a social system with:
Formation of personal networks through bonding and bridging;Disclosure needed to form ties;Adaptation to signals from the environment through afeedback process;
What will be the final configuration of the system, in terms ofdegree of disclosure?
Simulating online privacyMethods
Agent-based computer simulation
Generate socially consistent scenarioson a computer;Compare their outcomes;To detect and assess variables cominginto play within specific socialprocesses;To identify sufficient conditions for amacro phenomenon to emerge fromthe interaction of micro behaviours.An aid to perform a thoughtexperiment.
Simulating online privacyMethods
The logic of an agent-based model
Generate an artificial population ofagents in an environment;
Endow them with basic rules ofbehaviour;
Let them interact for a certain timeand step aside;
Observe outcomes at the systemlevel at the end.
Simulating online privacyMethods
Our Simulation model
Programmed and run on NetLogo (Wilensky 1999);
Tie formation rules allowing for both bonding and bridging;
Two embedded notions of privacy:Gradual self-disclosure and adaptation to one’s personalnetwork, through a feedback process;Binary on/off visibility settings.
Simulating online privacyResults
Resulting system configurations
Figure: Stable configurations (20,000 time steps): (1) Small subnets, (2) Supernet.
Simulating online privacyResults
Two solutions emerge
Many small subnets where contents are locked to contexts⇒ “Elective communities” scenario.
Supernet where all contents are shared by all individuals,regardless of context
⇒ Is this the “End-of-Privacy” scenario?
Simulating online privacyResults
Effects of varying parameters
Figure: Number and size of nets, varying with connectedness and openness to diversity.
Simulating online privacyResults
Evolution of privacy on/off settings
Figure: Average privacy settings, varying with connectedness and openness to diversity over time. It is whenindividuals grow more and more connected, and share more and more contents, that privacy becomes relevant again.
Simulating online privacyResults
For further reflection
The supposed “End of Privacy”scenario is in fact more complexthan expected;
Tendency to greater openness isnot linear and may give rise tocounter-tendencies;
Possibility of cyclical patterns:FB zeroes out privacy settings,users retune them.
Bakshy E., I. Rosenn, C. Marlow, L. Adamic (2012) The Role of Social Networks in Information Diffusion,http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.4145.
Simulating online privacyResults
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge Fondation CIGREF (ISD Programme 2011) for support.
Paola Tubaro, [email protected] A. Casilli, [email protected]