Facebook Code: Social Network Sites Platform Affordances and Privacy

Social Network Sites (SNS) have become a very common part of life for a majority of regular Internet users. The implications of this usage for the privacy of users is a topic of significant concern socially and legally, and with respect to multiple parties: their connections, unconnected other users of the site, other ordinary Internet users, platform operators, other commercial organisations and governments. Some claims have been made that because users submit a significant amount of their information directly and voluntarily to these sites, that such usage should all be regarded as voluntary and subject to no significant privacy controls. In this paper the relevant sociological and psychological literature (general and specific) on the actual level of control users have over their actions and their data is presented, with the result that greater regulatory control is suggested. This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down.