Textio

[wharton] A generation is growing up with social networking web sites such as Facebook and MySpace, casually posting accounts of their lives for their friends — and the world — to see. Few of these users realize that the information they post, when combined with new technologies for gathering and compiling data, can create a fingerprint-like pattern of behavior. The information provides opportunities not only for legitimate business purposes, but also for the nefarious aims of identity thieves and other predators, according to faculty at Wharton and elsewhere.

“The way privacy has traditionally been defined is being challenged,” according to Wharton legal studies professor Andrea Matwyshyn, who earlier this year organized the Information Security Best Practices Conference at Wharton. Among other topics, the conference addressed security and safety issues raised by the social networks.

Research on online social networking and how it may alter privacy norms is just beginning, according to technology observers. “Our kids today will give everything [in terms of personal information] away, but it’s not at all clear how this will shake out in the long run,” says Wharton marketing professor Peter S. Fader. “Privacy is a moving target.”

Leaving ‘Friendprints’: How Online Social Networks Are Redefining Privacy and Personal Security