Privacy by redesign: Alleviating privacy concerns for third-party applications

In online social networks, the aggressive way of data access and transmission by thirdparty applications (apps) has made privacy concerns particularly salient. Users' private information can be easily revealed by their and even their friends' use of apps. A heightened need for empowering user control for third-party apps arises due to the inability to monitor the data use by app providers within and outside of the social networking platform and the inherent uncertainty about their privacy practices. Drawing on the theoretical framework developed by Malhotra et al. (2004), we propose two improved designs of privacy authorization dialogues to encompass control and awareness as the essential factors to address users' privacy concerns toward thirdparty apps on Facebook. The approach of Privacy by ReDesign is employed to investigate whether users can more adequately represent their preferences for sharing and releasing personal information with these two improved designs.