The Effect of Privacy Policies on Information Sharing Behavior on Social Networks: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Online social networks (OSN) such as Facebook and Instagram have dramatically changed the way people operate. It, however, raises specific privacy concerns due to their inherent handling of personal data. The paper highlights the privacy concerns associated with OSN, strategies to protect the users’ privacy, and finally the overall effect of privacy policies on information sharing behavior on OSN. We examined a sample of 51 full papers that explore privacy concerns in OSN, strategies to protect users’ privacy, and the effects of privacy policies on the users’ information sharing behavior. The overall findings disclosed that users are concerned about their identity being stolen, and how third-party applications use their information. However, privacy policies do not have a direct impact on the information sharing behavior of OSN users. The findings help researchers and practitioners better understand the impact of privacy concern on users' information sharing behaviors on OSN.