The researchers said competition was deterring social networks from clearly stating their privacy guidelines because it’s deemed that any conversation about privacy puts users off using social network.
Joseph Bonneau, co-researcher on the project, said, “Sites want users to be relaxed and have fun, but when privacy is mentioned users feel less comfortable sharing data. Even sites with good privacy feel they can’t promote it, so users have no idea what they’re getting.”
According to the research, between 80% and 99% of users never alter their privacy settings, which has led to the researchers calling for an opt-out approach to privacy, enabling users’ details to be kept private unless otherwise stated.
Sören Preibusch, another researcher on the project, said, “The popular sites are just the tip of the iceberg. Niche sites implement significantly less favourable privacy practices and offer fewer controls to their users to configure the sharing of personal information.”
Source: New Media Age