IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2016 - 77
Table 1. Comparing Data Collected according to Privacy Policies
Type of Information
Facebook
Google
Twitter
LinkedIn
Personally identifiable information
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
User-generated content
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Device information
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Location information
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Payment information
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Off-platform activities (other platforms visited and user engagement)
Yes
No
No
No
How the user interacts and uses the web platform
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
average words per sentence and average syllables per
word. These two calculations are used in conjunction
with three constants in order to determine the grade
level of the text [6]. The Flesch-Kincaid measure has
been established as tool to determine text readability in
numerous fields including health sciences, education
materials, finance, and governmental texts [17], [38],
[53]. However our comparison of privacy policies is dif-
ferent from previous studies because we focus more on
what information is included or excluded and the pro-
tections the platforms offer instead of purely focusing
on the user as done in [42] and [44]. While we still
examine the implications for the user, our approach
also investigates solutions for the lack of online privacy
that could potentially bridge the gap between the user
and social media/web company. In this context, our
approach also differs from other research such as [42]
and [44] which focuses more on who the privacy policy
benefits rather than recommending future solutions.
Web Platforms
Social media platforms have become one of the most
popular technologies on the Internet. By 2014, 71% of
adult Internet users [7] and 56% of the entire adult pop-
ulation were using some form of social media [43].
While social media remains most popular among young
adults (ages 18-29), usage is steadily increasing each
year in other age groups [7]. Today some of the most
widely used social media platforms are Facebook, Twit-
ter, Google, and LinkedIn [25]. Each of these platforms
are discussed more in depth below, along with the pri-
vacy agreements that their users are required to agree
to before accessing the site and using the service it pro-
vides. Special attention was paid to personally identifi-
able information (i.e., information that could be used to
identify the user); user-generated content (anything that
the user may create while using the platform); device
information (e.g., IP address, if it is considered a mobile
device); location information; payment information (e.g.,
credit card number); off-platform activities (activity on
june 2016
∕
platforms not covered in the privacy policy); and how
the user interacts and uses the web platform (e.g., post-
ing content, content viewed, ads clicked).
Facebook
Facebook was initially launched in 2004 as an online
directory for college students. Since that initial launch,
Facebook has become a publicly traded company with a
market value of over 240 billion dollars [31]. This multi-
billion dollar corporation is a social networking site that
allows users to connect with people they know to share
photos, play games, and share information. Facebook
currently has over 1.2 billion monthly active users world-
wide, making it one of the largest social media plat-
forms today [28].
Facebook's privacy policy (last revised January 30,
2015) offers users very little actual privacy. According to
the policy, Facebook collects numerous forms of data,
which are summarized in Table 1. This immense amount
of data is used to better tailor their site to fit user's needs
as well as to inform future site development [11]. This
means that users' information is widely shared with many
parties, including with developers, advertisers, and other
third parties. In their cookie policy Facebook lists no less
than 10 separate companies that advertisers commonly
use, along with their contact information [11]. This list is
not exhaustive, but it does reveal that the companies that
have access to this information could be far larger than
this initial list. Any information that Facebook collects is
shared with these companies, though Facebook does not
mention the protocol third parties must follow in order to
access the information. Facebook stores this information
for "as long as it is necessary to provide products and ser-
vices to you and others" ([11, para. 29. Essentially Face-
book can store the information indefinitely since they are
the ones who decide how long it is "necessary" to keep the
data. When a user decides to delete their account, then
Facebook states they will delete all of the data that that
user posted. Any data that another member posted about
the user deleting the account, will remain on Facebook.
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine
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