Privacy Concerns with Social Networking Sites:An Empirical Investigation of Users in National Capital Region (NCR), India

Digitalization is the forceful thrust for any socialization chain. The urge for advanced communication has prompted the development of Social Networking Sites (SNSs), and since the last few decades they have been the most widely used medium for socialization and communication. As the usage of social media involves sharing personal information, there is an always a concern for privacy for social media users. Swift expansion of SNSs has led to privacy concerns, as they contain sensitive personal and consumer information. This research study is an empirical investigation about the impact of privacy concerns on users’ reception of SNSs. The literature review for this study recognized the theoretical perspectives of privacy and privacy concerns with respect to SNSs. While a few researchers have considered variables only from SNS developer’s point of view and the others from the individual user’s point of view, the present study have tried to understand empirically the impact of privacy concern on SNS by considering the perspectives of both developers as well as users. A questionnaire was developed about the diversified parameters of privacy concern and their impact on SNSs. Data were then collected using the questionnaire from the sample of 318 respondents, selected using random sampling method from the National Capital Region (NCR) of India. The collected data was later subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and multiple regression analysis. Five factors, namely, site characteristics, privacy scams, perceived benefits, legislative measures, and user profile, emerged from the EFA, of which the latter four were found to be significant predictors of privacy concerns. This study provides valuable insights into how privacy is perceived by the user and what site owners must do to protect user privacy.