Although current networked systems and online applications provide new 
opportunities for displaying and sharing personal information, they do not 
account for the underlying social contexts that frame such interactions. 
Existing categorization and management mechanisms for digital content 
have been designed to focus on the data they handle without much 
regard for the social circumstances within which their content is shared. 
As we share large collections of personal information over mediated 
environments, our tools need to account for the social scenarios that 
surround our interactions.


Collections is an application for the management of digital pictures 
according to their intended audiences. The goal is to create a graphical 
interface that supports the creation of fairly complex privacy decisions 
concerning the display of digital photographs. Simple graphics are used 
to enable the collector to create a wide range of audience arrangements 
for her digital photographs. The system allows users to express their 
preferences in sharing their personal pictures over a disembodied 
environment such as the Web.