Knowledge of and Vigilance toward Security and Privacy Risks by Facebook Users Karen H. Smith Garry L. White McCoy College of Business Administration Texas State University-San Marcos

The Problem Identity theft – 10 million Americans in 2008 Cybercrime – up 668% from 2001-2009 Social sharing increases risks Facebook – 500 million active users Benefits – enhance relationships Risks – privacy and security

Knowledge Federal Privacy Act of 1974 (Federal Trade Commission 2007) Importance of knowledge about security and privacy risks (Nowak and Phelps 1995; Peltier, Milne, and Phelps 2009; Anderson 2010)

Vigilance Vigilance construct (Matthews, Davies, and Holley 1993) Importance of vigilance (Ramsey and Venkatesan 2010; Reisz 2005) Vigilance uses cognitive resources (Warm Parasuraman, and Matthews 2008 Vigilance decrement (Parasuraman 1987) Privacy paradox (Norberg, Horne, and Horne 2007)

Narcissism Narcissism construct (Raskin and Terry 1988) Narcissism and Social Networking (Buffardi and Campbell 2008)

Hypotheses Consumers who lack knowledge about how to protect themselves from the security and privacy risks of Facebook tend to be less vigilant than knowledgeable consumers. Consumers who are concerned with security and privacy on Facebook tend to rely on technology for protection rather than their own vigilance. Consumers who are narcissistic tend to post more personal information on Facebook. Consumers who are narcissistic tend to be less vigilant than other consumers.

Research Methods Focus groups – funded Nationwide survey –funding needed Measures Knowledge (objective test developed by researchers) Narcissism scale (Raskin and Terry 1988) Vigilance (scale developed by researchers)