Tweet beyond the Cage: A Hybrid Solution for the Privacy Dilemma in Online Social Networks

Today's commercial online social networks (COSNs) are under continuous debate for their lack of proper data and privacy protection; meanwhile, privacy-preserving online social networks (PPOSNs) struggle to attract a critical number of users. In this paper, we propose a hybrid solution that combines the best of both worlds in a seamless experience. Our hybrid online social network (HOSN) concept enables users to gradually transition parts of their online social experience to a more privacy- preserving network, while also considering the needs of the commercial providers. A reference implementation for Twitter with a detailed technical discussion proves the viability of this concept.