9. Sustaining Social Cohesion in Information and Knowledge Society: The Priceless Value of Privacy

Within Information and Knowledge Society the concept of Privacy has been enriched including aspects related to digital life, while the right to online Privacy gains more and more attention daily due to several cases of privacy breaches. Privacy is associated with the control, access and use or misuse of personal information by others, including governments, companies and other users as well. Social Network Sites as a part of digital space have altered the way that people communicate and have contributed to the construction of online social networks. During online interaction, users disclose information about them or others, while at the same time they express their concerns about Privacy infringement that may come up due to self-disclosure practices, not restricting or reversing though their disclosure behavior. Thus the “Privacy paradox” phenomenon is recorded since users cannot balance between Privacy concerns and their need for disclosure. Privacy’s circumvention destabilizes the trust between social actors, increases the feelings of insecurity and puts into risk social cohesion which is a prerequisite for the sustainability of our society. Legislation as well as technology may protect us, but sometimes they are not user friendly and sufficient. Users should protect themselves and other people in order to preserve their Privacy as a fundamental human right. In this paper, based on a literature review, we present the issue of Privacy in Social Network Sites focusing on factors that affect people’s Privacy concerns and behavior while relating these to social cohesion.