Facebook Data Shield: An interactive tangible interface for user data control

Social media platforms like Facebook utilize AI algorithms to personalize
content based on user data, raising concerns about data privacy and transparency.
We introduce the Facebook Data Shield (FDS), a life-sized interactive installation that
empowers users to visualize and control the data shared with the platform. We deployed FDS at a public design event, to explore user data-sharing and control preferences. We conducted an analysis of 81 user interactions, based on data logs and surveys. Our findings reveal a preference for increased data control, particularly concerning online behavior and demographics. We identify five distinct clusters for preferred data-sharing settings, which show limited correlation with demographic information. Finally, we discuss the potential for predicting preferred data-sharing settings through machine learning based on our data, and implications for social media platform design. This study contributes to the ongoing discourse on data governance and user autonomy in an era of AI-driven content curation