Solution to Social Media Privacy Problem

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Number: Date: Solution to Social Media Privacy Problem. Private information and security are critical to everyone. It has become a popular topic especially with the current rise of social media applications whose purpose is to connect people and require the personal information to do so. Although there are the usual vulnerabilities that face the internet social networking applications, the problem of privacy raises a massive concern due to their access to and handling of personal data of their users. The issue majorly affects the consumers of the information as the threat may lead to particular social media prospects of bullying, stalking and even crime. Therefore, the problem has to be addressed to prevent future occurrences of the same and ensure that social media only serves the purpose of creating a platform where people can interact and socialize. PART I. Idrees Ahmad, in his article, postulates several weaknesses and demerits related to social media. The author states that with the increased number of individuals gaining access to the platform, it is very easy for one to know all about another person and target them (Ahmad 2). This is a robust issue regarding the privacy of a social media user that has significantly escalated cases of cyberbullying using the social network, an issue that scholars are saying to be on a rampant rage and rise with the advanced and simple modes of accessing one's personal information. Aaron Beach of the University of Colorado at Boulder elucidates that the social media is the leading communication and interaction system where hundreds of millions of people are logged in, hence giving the developers of the platforms a wealth of information from all of its users (Ahmad 8). Mike Gartrell supports the views of the two scholars stating that the location-aware mobile social network (LAMSN) systems correlates the personal information keyed in to the platform with the physical location of the user with an objective of enabling the user to create relationships and interact with other users in the same locality (Beach, Gartrell & Richard 51). However, the creators or developers of the distinct platforms do not realize that the preferences being made universal are actual forms of an individual’s privacy violation. The scholars explain that the fusion of social media computing has led to an instant and sudden rise of a series of applications with specific obligations and implications that the public does not yet fully understand, leave alone accept. The scholars and other authoritative groups in the same context state that the problem of privacy in social networks is due to lack of proper and adequate tools for collaborative privacy management and in order to curb it, they propose that social media networks in the future generations should establish platforms that are equipped with built-in mechanisms that anchor effective and efficient efforts in privacy management. Another group of scholars have implemented a solution to the issue where they have currently designed a system called the identity server with the view of addressing the described security and privacy problem (Beach, Gartrell & Richard 51). The solution works well with an exhibition of certain assumptions such as assuming that the users of the social media platforms have strong and reliable internet access through Wireless World Wide Area Network (WWAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) or mobile data connections. The analysis bases its arguments on the discussions of the scholars above relating to the problem of privacy in social media. In light to the problem, the discussions and the claims, it is important to note that if effective action is not taken immediately, the issue will grow with the rising number of applications that oblige personal information. Therefore, the government and expert individuals should come together and tackle the problem using technology to develop tools and programs which will be tasked with the responsibility of managing and controlling data to ensure their privacy. This comes in conjunction with the help of the government in ensuring that it outlines and passes relevant laws, policies and regulations that exert pressure to the organization to ensure the privacy of their users’ information. Moreover, although it is an entity that can face other additional threats and shortcomings, using technology-based solutions is the best idea in this context. PART II. Background of the Problem. Social media networking sites exploded just recently but before that, there were earlier forms of interacting and communicating through social networking sites such as Friendster and Six Degrees among other blogging sites that people treated as social media platforms. These and other multiplayer and forum sites are the ultimate tools that led to the creation of the current social media. Since then, privacy has become an issue of public concern. In the past, in 1996 in Texas, a woman met an individual in an online dating site and while they were on their initial date, she was sued for sexual harassment with evidential support of messages on the site implicating sexual annotations and fantasies with the acquaintance (Dagmar 2). The earliest social networking sites comprised of various capabilities including conversations via chat rooms. One of the sites with these features was MySpace where cases of privacy and security issues in the form of bullying and stalking were experienced. Kelly Quinn states that social media is getting popular with time and with its use rising to 73% among the U.S (Fornaciari 112). adults, youths and females. Moreover, over the past decade, social media sites have become widely known, used and gained popularity, continuing their growth to currently where hundreds of millions of people are active users and consumers of information on the internet. Solutions Eben Moglen, a law professor and a brilliantly educated radical from Columbia argues that the current legal system in the county and the world in general, is not adequately equipped to respond to the threats of the present digital advancement and due to this, technology is the only hope of providing and ensuring privacy of data in the social media industry. The author has created a system called ‘Freedom Box' which enables people to shield their online information and protect their privacies from the government and social network firms (Chen &Michael 44). The system is an effective technological solution that allows people to use the internet and social media without having a feeling of creepiness. Besides, the system tackles the problem of internet cookies that accumulate in individual's process data when they log in and operate using their servers. The technology-based solution also contains a tool known as ‘Diaspora', a site which acts as a rival to Facebook but with numerous positive and goodwill features. Aaron Beach, Mike Gartrell and Richard Han have designed and implemented another system called the ‘Identity Server' which serves to address the problem of security and privacy of information keyed into the social media site or platform. With various assumptions, this model works with the help of the "anonymous identifier" or AID, a nonce established by a trusted nonce called the Identity Server or IS. Therefore, with the two, before a mobile device reveals or advertises the information of the user to another nearby mobile device, it would have to securely contact the IS to obtain the AID (Beach, Gartrell & Richard 53). For the two to be compatible, the IS generates a new AID for the new mobile device and associates the newly generated AID with this new device which has requested access, then returns the AID to the original mobile device. After that, the mobile device carries to share the AID with the new nearby device by establishing a Bluetooth or WiFi sharing service without sharing private information. Figure 1: The design of the Anonymous IDs and the Identity Server. The two ...