Eyeing your exposure

Abstract

A large body of research has focused on disclosure policies for controlling information release in social sharing (e.g., location-based) applications. However, less work has considered how exposed these policies actually leave users; i.e., to what extent are disclosures in compliance with these policies actually being made? For instance, consider a disclosure policy granting Alice's coworkers access to her location during work hours. Alice might feel that this policy appropriately controls her exposure, but may feel differently if she learned that her boss was accessing her location every 5 minutes. In addition to specifying who has access to personal information, users need a way to quantify, interpret, and control the extent to which this data is shared.