Privacy as Part of the App Decision-Making Process

Abstract

Smartphones have unprecedented access to sensitive personal information. While users report having privacy concerns they may not actively consider privacy while downloading apps from smartphone application marketplaces. Currently Android users have only the Android permissions display which appears after they have selected an app to download to help them understand how applications access their information. We investigate how permissions and privacy could play a more active role in app-selection decisions. We designed a short "Privacy Facts" display, which we tested in a 20-participant lab study and a 366-participant online experiment. We found that by bringing privacy information to the user when they were making the decision and by presenting it in a clearer fashion, we could assist users in choosing applications that request fewer permissions.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 06, 2013
Accession Number
ADA579375

Entities

People

  • Lorrie F. Cranor
  • Norman Sadeh
  • Patrick G. Kelley

Organizations

  • Carnegie Mellon University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Computer Access Control
  • Computer Programs
  • Computers
  • Control Systems
  • Mobile Communications
  • Mobile Devices
  • Mobile Operating Systems
  • Mobile Phones
  • Mobile Software
  • Operating Systems
  • Smartphones
  • Surveys
  • Text Messaging

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Systems Analysis and Design