New Facebook App to Detect “Unfriendly” Friends, Pedophiles and Criminals Developed by BGU Students
New Facebook App to Detect “Unfriendly” Friends, Pedophiles and Criminals Developed by BGU Students
July 9, 2012
Homeland & Cyber Security, Press Releases, Robotics & High-Tech
NEW YORK, July 9, 2012 — Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) undergraduate students have developed a new privacy solution for Facebook. The Social Privacy Protector (SPP) can help parents adjust their children’s profiles in one click, prevent criminals from garnering valuable personal information and keep teens safe from pedophiles.
The SPP “app” has multiple levels of protection, but the most important component reviews a user’s friends list in seconds to identify which have few or no mutual links and might be “fake” profiles. The app analyzes each friend and scores the “connectedness” to every friend. It flags the lowest scores as suspicious and asks whether the friend should be restricted from personal user information, but doesn’t defriend them.
“An important feature of our app is the ability for parents to better protect their kids’ privacy with just one click instead of having to navigate the more complicated Facebook privacy settings,” Michael Fire, a Ph.D. candidate in BGU’s Department of Information Systems Engineering explains.
“While Facebook encourages connecting with as many people as possible, we advocate limiting users, and have, for the first time, provided an algorithm to scientifically determine who to remove from friend lists,” Fire adds. “Predators rely on people friending anyone, and with teens now allowed to have Facebook accounts, we believe that our solution can provide necessary protection for all users.”
The SPP also notifies the user about the applications installed on their profile that could threaten his or her privacy.
Fire, working with Prof. Yuval Elovici and undergraduate students Dima Kagan and Aviad Elishar of BGU’s Telekom Innovation Laboratories and Information Systems Engineering Department, developed the Facebook application and software based on their research on Facebook and social networks in general. The app was part of a final project for Kagan’s and Elishar’s bachelor’s degrees.
“Social media is an incredible phenomenon, but has significant pitfalls if used haphazardly, especially by teens,” explains Doron Krakow, executive vice president, American Associates, Ben-Gurion of the Negev (Americans for Ben-Gurion University). “We’re very proud of the fact that at BGU even undergraduate students have the opportunity to work with top researchers and can devise such an important app that could protect millions of youth.”
The free software is available as a Facebook app for all browsers, and as an add-on for Firefox.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
For all press inquiries, please contact:
James Fattal, J Cubed Communications
516.289.1496
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