Data Protection and Privacy Issues with Social Networking Sites within Dissertation

Data Protection and Privacy Issues with Social Networking Sites within the context of EU Data Protection Legislation - Dissertation Example In view of this contentious issue, this article will present a basic overview of the data protection (DP) legislation as framed by the European Commission, with regard to Social Networking Sites (SNS). It will also discuss some specific DP issues within SNS focusing on the roles and responsibilities of the various actors i.e. the SNS providers, users and regulators. The article will study and review certain sources of concern about user privacy in relation to the functionality/operations of SNS; while taking into account the conflicting needs of SNSs to profit from the personal data of their users, and their legal obligation to protect the privacy of their users, viewed within the context of EU Data Protection Legislation. It will also recommend suitable potential changes to the current EU DPP legislation necessary to fit in with modern and continuously evolving communication methods within the virtual world. 7 1.3Significance of the study 7 2Literature review 9 2.1Emergence of the S NSs and the nature of the information stored in them 9 2.2The concept of information privacy and the subsequent threat to privacy within the Internet (primarily the SNSs) 17 2.3Data protection in the context of EU Data Protection Legislation 24 3Analysis 32 4Methodology 41 5Conclusion 43 6Recommendations 44 Bibliography 46 Applause Store Prod. Ltd. vs. Raphael, [2008] EWHC 1781 (QB). 46 Boyd, D., and Ellison, N. 2007. Social network sites: De?nition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1):210–230. 47 Brown, I., Edwards, L., and Marsden, C. Staking 2.0: privacy protection in a leading social networking site, Retrieved from, 47 Burns, E., 2007. Marketing to Social Networking Sites, Targeted. ClikZ, retrieved from 48 Bygrave, L. 2001. Minding the machine: Article 15 of the EC Data Protection Directive and Automated Profiling. Computer Law & Security Report, No. 17, 17-24. 48 OfCom. August 2010. Consumers spend almost half of their waking hour s using media and communications. Retrieved from 53 Abstract Various observations have revealed that in the modern 21st century the various social networking sites (SNSs) on the Internet have become immensely popular, forming an important part in the life of many of the users. The SNSs form a platform where the users create various types of networks to forge social relationships. While forming relationships on such platforms, the users often share a good deal of personal information, ignoring or underestimating the potential risk from such information sharing. As for example, the uploaded personal information of a user may reach more people than actually intended. Often the anonymity and the lack of formal guidelines allow users to post information about other users without any prior permission. Often unawareness and a lack of experience, and furthermore the composition of the SNSs, work towards exacerbating the situation. Recently many of the well-known social networking sites have faced severe criticism for inadequate data protection and privacy accorded to its users. This paper aims to give an insight into the various privacy issues and risks related to the SNSs, in the context of EU Data Protection Legislation, while it also aims to study the matter in order to seek certain workable solutions as regards this problem. Data Protection and Privacy Issues with Social Networking