Sharing is caring, or callous?

Abstract

The practice of third-party applications (social apps) on social networks sites (SNSs) to collect information about users’ friends has raised awareness of the problem known as interdependent privacy. Although studies have quantified the value which app users place on their friends’ personal information, i.e., interdependent privacy value, few have investigated factors that affect the valuation of interdependent privacy. In particular, research indicates that social capital, which is an immaterial resource that can yield positive social outcomes, plays an important role in individuals’ decision-making. Motivated by these works, we study the complex and yet undetermined relationship between interdependent privacy value and social capital. In addition, in order to gain a thorough understanding of interdependent privacy valuation, our study also examines its relationships with factors such as app data collection context (i.e., whether or not data collection is relevant to app performance), individuals’ number of friends within SNSs, and demographics.