Different Approaches to Privacy
I have explored many facets of privacy, ranging from how teenagers manage privacy to how differential privacy supports confidentiality commitments.
Last Updated: June 4, 2026
Different Approaches to Privacy​
Animating Questions
  • How do people manage privacy in digital contexts? Privacy is the control of social situations. Affordances configure opportunities.
  • How does the networked nature of data upend privacy practices? In an algorithmic world, people’s data is entangled with others.
  • What role do privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) play in guaranteeing confidentiality? Epistemic orientations and political forces shape people’s understanding of PETs.
  • What does it meaningful participatory engagement look like? We explore efforts to engage stakeholders around differential privacy.
Sample Publications
Marwick, Alice E., and danah boyd. 2014. “Networked Privacy: How Teenagers Negotiate Context in Social Media.” New Media & Society 16 (7): 1051–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444814543995.
 
Marwick, Alice, Claire Fontaine, and danah boyd. 2017. “‘Nobody Sees It, Nobody Gets Mad’: Social Media, Privacy, and Personal Responsibility Among Low-SES Youth.” Social Media + Society 3 (2): 2056305117710455. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117710455.
 
boyd, danah. 2008. “Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck: Exposure, Invasion, and Social Convergence.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 14 (1): 13–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856507084416.
 
boyd, danah. 2012. “Networked Privacy.” Surveillance & Society 10 (3/4): 348–50. https://doi.org/10.24908/ss.v10i3/4.4529.
 
boyd, danah, and Eszter Hargittai. 2010. “Facebook Privacy Settings: Who Cares?” First Monday, ahead of print, July 27. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i8.3086.
 
boyd, danah, and Jayshree Sarathy. 2022. “Differential Perspectives: Epistemic Disconnects Surrounding the US Census Bureau’s Use of Differential Privacy.” Harvard Data Science Review. https://doi.org/10.1162/99608f92.66882f0e.
Frequent Collaborators