Social Media and Data Privacy Awareness

Author

Ayushi Bhange, Sumit Bawne, Harshal Pusdekar, Shantanu Chavan


Abstract

 Social media has become an important part of everyday life. People use social media for communication, education, entertainment, business, and sharing personal information. Users regularly share photographs, videos, opinions, locations, and other details on different online platforms. Along with these benefits, social media has also created concerns about the privacy and security of personal information.

Data privacy awareness means understanding how personal information is collected, used, stored, and shared online. Many users accept application permissions and privacy settings without properly understanding them. This can increase the risk of unauthorized access, identity theft, phishing, unwanted tracking, and misuse of personal information.

This study focuses on the importance of data privacy awareness among social media users. It examines common privacy risks, user awareness, privacy settings, account security, application permissions, and responsible information sharing. The study also highlights simple practices that users can follow to protect their personal information.

The study concludes that better privacy awareness can help users make safer decisions while using social media. Regularly checking privacy settings, using strong passwords, avoiding suspicious links, and limiting unnecessary personal information can improve online privacy and security.


Keywords

Data privacy, Digital footprint, Information security, Online confidentiality, Personal data protection, Social networking



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References


  • Federal Trade Commission. (2024). A Look Behind the Screens: Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services.
  • Pew Research Center. (2023). A Deep Dive Into Online Privacy Choices.
  • Pew Research Center. (2023). How Americans Protect Their Online Data and Privacy.
  • Pew Research Center. (2023). Teens and Social Media: Key Findings from Pew Research Center Surveys.
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2020). NIST Privacy Framework: A Tool for Improving Privacy through Enterprise Risk Management.

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