Online social networks in UK: Privacy behaviour and concern

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to my supervisor [Name of supervisor] whose unending guidance and support at every stage of the research process made this dissertation possible in an elegant way. My thanks to God Almighty and my family and friends, in addition to all the well wishers for their constant encouragement and for giving me the confidence, determination and the desire to go ahead with this dissertation and see it to the end. A special thank you to my dear family without whose help, encouragement and motivation, the research could not have been done. I take this opportunity to thanks all people who helped me in successfully completing this research on Online social networks in UK: Privacy behaviour and concern.

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Date: __________________________

DECLARATION

I, [name of the author], hereby declare the best of my knowledge, the entire contents of this thesis represent my real job, and that such a thesis was submitted prior to any academic research or other qualifications. In addition, the researcher represents his own personal opinions and do not have anything to do with them at university.

Signed: __________________. Date: _________________.

Executive Summary

The advent of the Internet and the digital society has brought forward concerns about potential for privacy loss. Since the first social network platform was created, privacy has been of prime concern. The internet with its mass benefits also brought forward the level of autonomy that was not previously seen contributing to different concerns related to privacy. Reviewing a number of literatures helped the study identify a number of variables that can be related to privacy, having an effect on it, directly or indirectly.

Central to the concept of privacy is the notion of control, and the entitlement an individual has to exercise the desired control over their personal information. Through the questionnaires, it was determined that out of the 100 respondents, most of them spend more than 4 hours online. It is recommended this research be conducted on a larger scale, incorporating a balanced mix of all age groups. A larger-scale research, availing of random sampling, would enhance the generalisability of the results.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIV

TABLE OF CONTENTSV

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the study1

Theoretical Framework2

Aim of the research2

Research objectives2

Research questions3

CHAPTER 02: REVIEW OF LITERATURE4

Customer information4

Serious risk5

Issue of privacy5

New features7

Facebook's privacy policy8

Negative word of mouth10

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY13

Overview13

Mixed methodology13

Qualitative Research14

Quantitative research15

Research Design15

Descriptive come Explanatory Research17

Research Strategy17

Cross Sectional18

CHAPTER 04: RESULTS19

Interview analysis24

CHAPTER 06: DISCUSSION27

Frame of reference (Variables important for the study)27

Frequency of use27

Perception28

Online Advertisement28

Trend to shop online29

Transfer of trust29

Number of barriers30

CHAPTER 07: CONCLUSION33

CHAPTER 08: LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS35

REFERENCES37

APPENDIX46

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE46

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS49

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

The advent of the Internet and the digital society has brought forward concerns about potential for privacy loss. While past research has probed aspects of individuals' privacy concerns, research on online social networks consistently shows that people disclose a vast amount of private information voluntarily and seemingly without reserve. A survey will be conducted which will confirms that vulnerability, severity, trust, and privacy disposition are all antecedents to perceived privacy risk in this ...