CPS2: A contextual privacy framework for social software

Abstract

Social software has become one of the most prominent means for communication. Context is essential for managing privacy and guiding communication. In social software, context can be ambiguous due to the overload of data and the mix of various audiences. Such ambiguity may result in privacy issues. To overcome context and privacy issues, we propose CPS2, a conceptual framework for contextual privacy management. The frameworks is based on an analysis of the role of context in communication and privacy management. The analysis identifies the interpretation of data as a key ingredient for privacy management. We present CPS2 and how the preservation of interpretation within any context facilitates preserving contextual privacy. We discuss how CPS2 can be technically realised, and how it can address context issues and offers fine-granular context control.