Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Education Conference (InSITE) 2015 Cite as: Ghemri, L. (2015). A user centered approach to managing privacy in online social networks. Proceedings of Informing Science & IT Education Conference (InSITE) 2015, 187-199. Retrieved from http://Proceedings.InformingScience.org/InSITE2015/InSITE15p187-199Ghemri1637.pdf Editor: Eli Cohen A User Centered Approach to Managing Privacy in Online Social Networks Lila Ghemri Department of Computer Science, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX, USA ghemri_lx@tsu.edu Abstract Since their initial introduction in the early 90’s, the popularity of web based online social net- working sites has been growing exponentially, encompassing millions of users. As these social networks continue to grow and become more popular, users’ different social circles (friends, fam- ily, and colleagues) are very likely to collide, as they all coexist under the same infrastructure. Considering the different levels of relationships between a user and their social circles, concerns about privacy arise. How does a user conceal private data? Who has access to it? And what is the most effective way in managing it? Many different approaches have been taken by online social network providers to give users more control over their data, but these methods have not always been affective, resulting in the misuse of the data or unintentional disclosure. We propose a new framework that aims at reducing risks of privacy violation by giving the user better and more in- tuitive ways to manage their social circles and control who accesses what type of data. Keywords: Online Social Networks, Privacy, Profile, FOAF Introduction Using web based online social networks (WOSN)s is fast becoming a fact of life for an ever in- creasing number of people. These social networks have initially been designed with a specific audience in mind, young college students for Facebook (Facebook, 2009), young and tech savvy professionals for LinkedIn (LinkedIn, 2003) and so on. However as their popularity grows, these “exclusively” social sites are also entering work arena with people “friending” their colleagues, coworkers and managers. This situation is quite new and unique in a person’s life, in that multiple social groups and types of relationships that a person experiences during their life coexist in a single environment and may sometimes collide. One important aspect of preventing this social collision for a WOSN user is the control of what, and how much to expose about themselves and to whom. This aspect was dubbed "so- cial transparency" by DiMicco and Mil- len (DiMicco & Millen, 2007). Various strategies have been devised by online social network companies to allow a user this control. These mechanisms have mostly consisted of dividing a user’s connections into groups, friends, friends of friends, fol- lowers, etc... However, few users are fully aware of these mechanisms and how to best use them to protect their Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage AND that copies 1) bear this notice in full and 2) give the full citation on the first page. It is per- missible to abstract these works so long as credit is given. To copy in all other cases or to republish or to post on a server or to redistribute to lists requires specific permission and payment of a fee. Contact Publisher@InformingScience.org to request redistribution permission.