Investigating Privacy Threats: An In-Depth Analysis of Personal Data on Facebook and LinkedIn Through Advanced Data Reconstruction Tools

Social networks have assumed significant importance in the contemporary world, and the abundance of sensitive data on these platforms has given rise to new privacy concerns. Several studies have examined and outlined the risks of disclosing personal information on social media platforms, which can lead to targeted attacks on individuals, associations, and companies. Over the years, significant legislative efforts have been made to address and mitigate these risks. Despite the latest research findings and enacted laws, the issue of privacy on social networks remains an ongoing challenge, as these platforms are specifically designed to interconnect individuals by exchanging highly personal information. This work aims to examine the personal data publicly accessible on social media. In addition, we accurately analysed two social media platforms Facebook and LinkedIn to highlight privacy dangers associated with improper data sharing practises by conducting multiple evaluations. With the goal of raising user awareness about the potential disclosure of personal information through social media, this study used two publicly available open-source tools social mapper and profiler to examine potential privacy risks. The study underscores the importance of data sanitization as an essential component of privacy protection in the context of social media platforms, emphasizing the need for users to employ effective data sanitization practices to mitigate privacy risks associated with sharing personal information.