Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
privacy setting and blog articles to build an appropriate digital identity, one the
company wants? It may not necessarily be that information sharing on SNS is a
utopia after all.
13.6 Social Challenges for Future SNS
It is expected that as SNS utilizing a real name policy like Facebook become more
popular, more SNS will collect personal information which is connected with users'
real activities. As these SNS spread out more and the personal information collected
in the SNS comes to be utilized more widely, then the personal information which is
stored in each SNS websites may be merged into one large database for advertising
purposes.
Under such circumstances, further social concerns will be raised. One of the
issues is whether a private large organization such as Facebook, can effectively take
responsibility to balance its commercial interests with its social role. If private
organizations cannot be responsible for the data collection of their users, and
appropriate regulations cannot be implemented, digital identity in the dull mirror
world may well seriously impact on our real life. In fact, one of the Face book
policies is “Done is better than perfect” (Weekly Toyokeizai
2012
, p. 53). If the
operation of Facebook had negative impacts, can they take responsibility for the
damage of them?
Another important issue is that related to the authentication system that
guarantees the real name of users. Without such authentication, the accuracy of
the information cannot be guaranteed. If someone made a false digital identity of a
SNS user, its influence could cause an incalculable loss on the user. In order to
avoid this kind of situation, measures need to be taken to protect the individual's
digital identity.
13.7 Conclusion
On the surface, it seems many users accept responsibility for using SNS websites,
and there are many options to handle problems related to information privacy abuse
and online stalking. However, as described in this chapter, there remain concerns
over the use of personal information and the management of digital identity on
SNS. Updating personally identifiable information on SNS websites, our digital
identity is shaped not only by ourselves, but also by other users and the architecture
of systems. Bearing in mind that SNS is an ICT-based dataveillance system which
is intended for profit, it is inappropriate to assume that the users have complete
control over the construction of their digital identity. Self-responsibility for the
development of one's digital identity has its limits.
