Extended Version: Security and Privacy Perceptions of Pakistani Facebook Matrimony Group Users

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Dorazahi, Mah Jan, Mungara, Deepthi, Acar, Yasemin, Ramulu, Harshini Sri
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Dorazahi, Mah Jan
Mungara, Deepthi
Acar, Yasemin
Ramulu, Harshini Sri
author_facet Dorazahi, Mah Jan
Mungara, Deepthi
Acar, Yasemin
Ramulu, Harshini Sri
contents In Pakistan, where dating apps are subject to censorship, Facebook matrimony groups -- also referred to as marriage groups -- serve as alternative virtual spaces for members to search for potential life partners. To participate in these groups, members often share sensitive personal information such as photos, addresses, and phone numbers, which exposes them to risks such as fraud, blackmail, and identity theft. To better protect users of Facebook matrimony groups, we need to understand aspects related to user safety, such as how users perceive risks, what influences their trust in sharing personal information, and how they navigate security and privacy concerns when seeking potential partners online. In this study, through 23 semi-structured interviews, we explore how Pakistani users of Facebook matrimony groups perceive and navigate risks of sharing personal information, and how cultural norms and expectations influence their behavior in these groups. We find elevated privacy concerns among participants, leading them to share limited personal information and creating mistrust among potential partners. Many also expressed concerns about the authenticity of profiles and major security risks, such as identity theft, harassment, and social judgment. Our work highlights the challenges of safely navigating Facebook matrimony groups in Pakistan and offers recommendations for such as implementing stronger identity verification by group admins, enforcing stricter cybersecurity laws, clear platform guidelines to ensure accountability, and technical feature enhancements -- including restricting screenshots, picture downloads, and implementing anonymous chats -- to protect user data and build trust.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_08782
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Extended Version: Security and Privacy Perceptions of Pakistani Facebook Matrimony Group Users
Dorazahi, Mah Jan
Mungara, Deepthi
Acar, Yasemin
Ramulu, Harshini Sri
Social and Information Networks
In Pakistan, where dating apps are subject to censorship, Facebook matrimony groups -- also referred to as marriage groups -- serve as alternative virtual spaces for members to search for potential life partners. To participate in these groups, members often share sensitive personal information such as photos, addresses, and phone numbers, which exposes them to risks such as fraud, blackmail, and identity theft. To better protect users of Facebook matrimony groups, we need to understand aspects related to user safety, such as how users perceive risks, what influences their trust in sharing personal information, and how they navigate security and privacy concerns when seeking potential partners online. In this study, through 23 semi-structured interviews, we explore how Pakistani users of Facebook matrimony groups perceive and navigate risks of sharing personal information, and how cultural norms and expectations influence their behavior in these groups. We find elevated privacy concerns among participants, leading them to share limited personal information and creating mistrust among potential partners. Many also expressed concerns about the authenticity of profiles and major security risks, such as identity theft, harassment, and social judgment. Our work highlights the challenges of safely navigating Facebook matrimony groups in Pakistan and offers recommendations for such as implementing stronger identity verification by group admins, enforcing stricter cybersecurity laws, clear platform guidelines to ensure accountability, and technical feature enhancements -- including restricting screenshots, picture downloads, and implementing anonymous chats -- to protect user data and build trust.
title Extended Version: Security and Privacy Perceptions of Pakistani Facebook Matrimony Group Users
topic Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08782