Researchers have developed a new privacy solution for Facebook;
the Social Privacy Protector (SPP), developed by Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev (BGU) undergraduate students, can help parents adjust their children’s
profiles in one click, prevent criminals from gathering valuable personal
information, and keep teens safe from pedophiles.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) undergraduate students
have developed a new privacy solution for Facebook. The Social Privacy Protector (SPP) can help parents adjust their children’s profiles in one click,
prevent criminals from gathering valuable personal information, and keep teens
safe from pedophiles.
An American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev release
reports that
the SPP app has multiple levels of protection, but the most important
component reviews a user’s friends list in seconds to identify which have few
or no mutual links and might be “fake” profiles. The app analyzes each friend
and scores the “connectedness” of every friend. It flags the lowest scores as
suspicious and asks whether the friend should be restricted from personal user
information, but does not defriend them.
“An important feature of our app is the ability for parents to
better protect their kids’ privacy with just one click instead of having to
navigate the more complicated Facebook privacy settings,” Michael Fire, a Ph.D.
candidate in BGU’s Department of Information Systems Engineering explains.
“While Facebook encourages connecting with as many people as
possible, we advocate limiting users, and have, for the first time, provided an
algorithm to scientifically determine who to remove from friend lists,” Fire
adds. “Predators rely on people friending anyone, and with teens now allowed to
have Facebook accounts, we believe that our solution can provide necessary
protection for all users.”The SPP also notifies the user about
the applications installed on their profile that could threaten his or
her privacy.
Fire, working with Professor Yuval Elovici and undergraduate
students Dima Kagan and Aviad Elishar of BGU’s Telekom Innovation
Laboratories and Information Systems Engineering Department, developed the
Facebook application and software based on their research on Facebook and
social networks in general. The app was part of a final project for Kagan’s and
Elishar’s bachelor’s degrees.
“Social media is an incredible phenomenon, but has significant
pitfalls if used haphazardly, especially by teens,” explains Doron Krakow,
executive vice president, American Associates, Ben-Gurion of the Negev (AABGU).
“We’re very proud of the fact that at BGU even undergraduate students
have the opportunity to work with top researchers and can devise such an
important app that could protect millions of youth.”
The free software is available as a Facebook app for all browsers,
and as an add-on for Firefox. The paper has been submitted for publication.
Source : http://armorbear.com
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