Privacy Concerns and Network of Communication among Classmates (Chapter 63)

The collection of network data referring to social interactions is among the topic more significant and interesting in the research process. Most of the advancements in this area benefit from the introduction of new technologies and the improvement of techniques for the collection and retrieval of data. The collection of information concerning multiple dimensions of personal interactions and the treatment of personal data, however, may pose privacy and ethical problems. In particular, the operative definition of privacy has been attempted in social and psychological research in the form of multi-dimensional indicators and variables referring to the individual perception of sensitivity and confidentiality of information. Recently, however, some attempts have been done to define privacy from a relational point of view using concepts and structural properties from social network analysis. The paper addresses this debate and by means of empirical network data on communication networks discuss the issue of privacy in network data collection and analysis.