Configuration Behavior of Restrictive Default Privacy Settings on Social Network Sites Analyzing the Combined Effect of Default Settings and Interface Style

Research about privacy in the context of social network sites has not addressed yet how users behave with restrictive default privacy settings. Literature about default settings and the sharing of personal information in social network sites lacks empirical insight into how restrictive default privacy settings influences the behavior of users. To gain empirical insight, a social network site privacy interface prototype was built to investigate the influence of default settings and interface style on the privacy configuration behavior of users. Results show configuration behavior differences between participants having restrictive or permissive privacy default settings. Further, interfaces with multiple pages of privacy settings induce participants to keep their default settings.