Research Notes · September 18, 2026 · 3 min read
Privacy Should Not Start Buried in Settings
A 2025 study found that social platforms often start with more exposure than users want.
This Research Note is original Unscroll commentary on outside work. Source: Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies.
Do social media privacy defaults match what users want?
Most people in this study wanted stronger privacy defaults, so protection should not depend on finding buried controls.
A 2025 study in Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies surveyed 541 adults across major social platforms. Researchers tested awareness, preferences, and the effort needed to find common privacy controls.
The results showed a broad mismatch. Some 92% wanted at least one setting to be more private by default. Another 80% had never seen at least one setting. And 79% found at least one setting hard to locate.
This was an online survey, not an experiment. It measured reported preferences and navigation tasks. Most participants lived in Europe or North America. The findings do not represent every user or platform.
Why it matters
Privacy controls only help when people can find and understand them. A safer choice should not require a settings scavenger hunt.
The study found a gap between defaults and preferences. That puts extra work on users after exposure choices are already made.
Audience choice also shapes the feeling of a post. An everyday photo feels different among friends than before a public crowd.
Ads add another layer of privacy decisions. An app without ads does not need personalized advertising controls in the first place.
What Unscroll does differently
Unscroll is private by default and built around real friends and family. You choose the people who see your casual updates.
Posts appear in chronological order. No algorithm ranks your friends or recommends strangers. There are no ads or data sales.
There is no public follower count or public like scoreboard. Reactions stay human instead of becoming a measure of reach.
Privacy should be a product default, not a puzzle. Choose your people, share real life, and put the phone down.
A casual social app for real friends
Unscroll is live on iPhone. Post casually, keep up with your people, and skip ads, algorithms, and endless scroll.