![Permalink for '[Paper] Determining Personality Traits & Privacy Concerns from Facebook Activity'](/themes/lilina/web//media/mark_off.gif)
Tags: privacy Facebook
Event: Black Hat Abu Dhabi 2011
Abstract: This study explored the extent to which it is possible to predict personality traits and privacy concerns based on Facebook use. This was done by comparing the 'Big Five' personality traits with Facebook usage, activities and language use. Results show that there are some significant correlations between an individual's personality type,their Facebook activity and their level of concern about privacy. However, the practical significance of these correlations is relatively low. This means that making meaningful conclusions about people or taking decisions that will affect their lives on the basis of Facebook activity may therefore be problematic and error prone . These findings support and extend previous research in online social networks by showing that Facebook activity can provide limited clues to an individual's personality. However, further research into social media use is critical to ensure that the practical and ethical implications of drawing conclusions about personal information embedded in social media sites are better understood. This talk discusses online activity, personality types and privacy concerns in relation to a range of topics including marketing, pre-employment screening and susceptibility to crime such as phishing and confidence fraud.