scholarly journals Improving User Choice Through Better Mobile Apps Transparency and Permissions Analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Liccardi ◽  
Joseph Pato ◽  
Daniel J. Weitzner
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Information Access ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Quantitative Measure ◽  
User Choice ◽  
Individual Control ◽  
Sensitivity Score ◽  
Google Play

Our personal information, habits, likes and dislikes can be all deduced from our mobile devices. Safeguarding mobile privacy is therefore of great concern. Transparency and individual control are bedrock principles of privacy but making informed choices about which mobile apps to use has been shown to be difficult. In order to understand the dynamics of information collection in mobile apps and to demonstrate the value of transparent access to the details of mobile applications information access permissions, we have gathered information about 528,433 apps on Google Play, and analyzed the permissions requested by each app. We develop a quantitative measure of the risk posed by apps by devising a ‘sensitivity score’ to represent the number of occurrences of permissions that read personal information about users where network communication is possible. We found that 54% of apps do not access any personal data. The remaining 46% collect between 1 to 20 sensitive permissions and have the ability to transmit it outside the phone. The sensitivity of apps differs greatly between free and paid apps as well as between categories and content rating. Sensitive permissions are often mixed with a large amount of low-risk permissions and hence are difficult to identify. Easily available sensitivity scores could help users making more informed decision about choosing an app that could pose less risk in collecting personal information. Even though an app is “self-described” to be suitable for a certain subset of users (i.e children) it might contain content ratings and permission requests that are not appropriate or expected. Our experience in doing this research shows that it is difficult to obtain information about how personal data collected from apps is used or analyzed. In fact only 0.37% (1,991) of the collected apps show to have declared a “privacy policy”. Therefore, in order to make real control available to mobile users, apps distribution platforms should provide more detailed information about how their data if accessed is used. To achieve greater transparency and individual control, apps distribution platforms which do not currently make raw permission description accessible for analysis could change their design and operating policies to make this data available prior to installation.

scholarly journals Angel or Devil? A Privacy Study of Mobile Parental Control Apps

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro Feal ◽  
Paolo Calciati ◽  
Narseo Vallina-Rodriguez ◽  
Carmela Troncoso ◽  
Alessandra Gorla
Keyword(s):  
Personal Information ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Online Advertising ◽  
Parental Control ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Sensitive Data ◽  
Control Applications ◽  
Static And Dynamic Analysis ◽  
Google Play

AbstractAndroid parental control applications are used by parents to monitor and limit their children’s mobile behaviour (e.g., mobile apps usage, web browsing, calling, and texting). In order to offer this service, parental control apps require privileged access to system resources and access to sensitive data. This may significantly reduce the dangers associated with kids’ online activities, but it raises important privacy concerns. These concerns have so far been overlooked by organizations providing recommendations regarding the use of parental control applications to the public.We conduct the first in-depth study of the Android parental control app’s ecosystem from a privacy and regulatory point of view. We exhaustively study 46 apps from 43 developers which have a combined 20M installs in the Google Play Store. Using a combination of static and dynamic analysis we find that: these apps are on average more permissions-hungry than the top 150 apps in the Google Play Store, and tend to request more dangerous permissions with new releases; 11% of the apps transmit personal data in the clear; 34% of the apps gather and send personal information without appropriate consent; and 72% of the apps share data with third parties (including online advertising and analytics services) without mentioning their presence in their privacy policies. In summary, parental control applications lack transparency and lack compliance with regulatory requirements. This holds even for those applications recommended by European and other national security centers.

Mobile Applications for Health Management of Older Adults: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurul Asilah Ahmad ◽  
Shahrul Azman Mohd Noah ◽  
Arimi Fitri Mat Ludin ◽  
Suzana Shahar ◽  
Noorlaili Mohd Tohit
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Personalized Feedback ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
App Store ◽  
Evidenced Based ◽  
Google Play

BACKGROUND Currently, the use of smartphones to deliver health-related content has experienced a rapid growth, with more than 165,000 mobile health (mHealth) applications currently available in the digital marketplace such as iOS store and Google Play. Among these, there are several mobile applications (mobile apps) that offer tools for disease prevention and management among older generations. These mobile apps could potentially promote health behaviors which will reduce or delay the onset of disease. However, no review to date that has focused on the app marketplace specific for older adults and little is known regarding its evidence-based quality towards the health of older adults. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to characterize and critically appraise the content and functionality of mobile apps that focuses on health management and/or healthy lifestyle among older adults. METHODS An electronic search was conducted between May 2019 to December 2019 of the official app store for two major smartphone operating systems: iPhone operating system (iTunes App Store) and Android (Google Play Store). Stores were searched separately using predetermined search terms. Two authors screened apps based on information provided in the app description. Metadata from all included apps were abstracted into a standard assessment criteria form. Evidenced based strategies and health care expert involvement of included apps was assessed. Evidenced based strategies included: self-monitoring, goal setting, physical activity support, healthy eating support, weight and/or health assessment, personalized feedback, motivational strategies, cognitive training and social support. Two authors verified the data with reference to the apps and downloaded app themselves. RESULTS A total of 16 apps met the inclusion criteria. Six out of 16 (37.5%) apps were designed exclusively for the iOS platform while ten out of 16 (62.5%) were designed for Android platform exclusively. Physical activity component was the most common feature offered in all the apps (9/16, 56.3%) and followed by cognitive training (8/16, 50.0%). Diet/nutrition (0/16, 0%) feature, however, was not offered on all reviewed mobile apps. Of reviewed apps, 56.3% (9/16) provide education, 37.5% (6/16) provide self-monitoring features, 18.8% (3/16) provide goal setting features, 18.5% (3/16) provide personalized feedback, 6.3% (1/16) provide social support and none of the reviewed apps offers heart rate monitoring and reminder features to the users. CONCLUSIONS All reviewed mobile apps for older adults in managing health did not focused on diet/nutrition component, lack of functional components and lack of health care professional involvement in their development process. There is also a need to carry out scientific testing prior to the development of the app to ensure cost effective and its health benefits to older adults. Collaborative efforts between developers, researchers, health professionals and patients are needed in developing evidence-based, high quality mobile apps in managing health prior they are made available in the app store.

How Do Mobile Applications for Cancer Communicate About Their Privacy Practices?

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-144
Author(s):  
Zerin Mahzabin Khan ◽  
Rukhsana Ahmed ◽  
Devjani Sen
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
End Users ◽  
Privacy Policies ◽  
Inadequate Information ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Complex Manner

No previous research on cancer mobile applications (apps) has investigated issues associated with the data privacy of its consumers. The current chapter addressed this gap in the literature by assessing the content of online privacy policies of selected cancer mobile apps through applying a checklist and performing an in-depth critical analysis to determine how the apps communicated their privacy practices to end users. The results revealed that the privacy policies were mostly ambiguous, with content often presented in a complex manner and inadequate information on the ownership, use, disclosure, retention, and collection of end users' personal data. These results highlight the importance of improving the transparency of privacy practices in health and fitness cancer mobile apps to clearly and effectively communicate how end users' personal data are collected, stored, and shared. The chapter concludes with recommendations and discussion on practical implications for stakeholders like cancer app users, developers, policymakers, and clinicians.

scholarly journals CAP-A: A Suite of Tools for Data Privacy Evaluation of Mobile Applications

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis Chrysakis ◽  
Giorgos Flouris ◽  
George Ioannidis ◽  
Maria Makridaki ◽  
Theodore Patkos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Data Privacy ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Privacy Policy ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Public

The utilisation of personal data by mobile apps is often hidden behind vague Privacy Policy documents, which are typically lengthy, difficult to read (containing legal terms and definitions) and frequently changing. This paper discusses a suite of tools developed in the context of the CAP-A project, aiming to harness the collective power of users to improve their privacy awareness and to promote privacy-friendly behaviour by mobile apps. Through crowdsourcing techniques, users can evaluate the privacy friendliness of apps, annotate and understand Privacy Policy documents, and help other users become aware of privacy-related aspects of mobile apps and their implications, whereas developers and policy makers can identify trends and the general stance of the public in privacy-related matters. The tools are available for public use in: https://cap-a.eu/tools/.

scholarly journals Mobile Apps to Fight the COVID-19 Crisis

Data ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Chrisa Tsinaraki ◽  
Irena Mitton ◽  
Marco Minghini ◽  
Marina Micheli ◽  
Alexander Kotsev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Qualitative Information ◽  
Complementary Information ◽  
Manual Analysis ◽  
Status Information ◽  
Google Play

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a multi-faceted global crisis, which triggered the diverse and quickly emerging use of old and new digital tools. We have developed a multi-channel approach for the monitoring and analysis of a subset of such tools, the COVID-19 related mobile applications (apps). Our approach builds on the information available in the two most prominent app stores (i.e., Google Play for Android-powered devices and Apple’s App Store for iOS-powered devices), as well as on relevant tweets and digital media outlets. The dataset presented here is one of the outcomes of this approach, uses the content of the app stores and enriches it, providing aggregated information about 837 mobile apps published across the world to fight the COVID-19 crisis. This information includes: (a) information available in the mobile app stores between 20 April 2020 and 2 August 2020; (b) complementary information obtained from manual analysis performed until mid-September 2020; and (c) status information about app availability on 28 February 2021, when we last collected data from the mobile app stores. We highlight our findings with a series of descriptives, which depict both the activities in the app stores and the qualitative information that was revealed by the manual analysis.

scholarly journals A Research on Strategy Selling in Mobile Applications (With Special Reference to Instructional Applications)

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12S) ◽  
pp. 522-524
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Building Block ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Digital World ◽  
Area Unit ◽  
A Company ◽  
Google Play

The selling strategy may be a arrange developed for achieving the selling objectives of the organization. It provides a layout for attaining their selling objectives simply. The strategy is that the building block of a selling arrange. A selling strategy helps a company to arrange their scarce resources on the most effective opportunities so that they will increase their sales. Meantime mobile applications play an important role during this digital world. They increase the users by adapting the selling methods to extend their main objective (profit). During this study the training mobile apps area unit taken, to search out however these app developers area unit victimisation the MS to boost their business and increasing the numbers of users for these mobile apps. These applications area unit offered in google play store, apple store, black berry store to transfer the applications in their mobile. This study reveals that the developers victimisation totally different strategy to sustain their applications within the market

scholarly journals Technology, Privacy, and User Opinions of COVID-19 Mobile Apps for Contact Tracing: Systematic Search and Content Analysis

10.2196/23467 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. e23467
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Elkhodr ◽  
Omar Mubin ◽  
Zainab Iftikhar ◽  
Maleeha Masood ◽  
Belal Alsinglawi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
The United States ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
App Store ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Google Play ◽  
Privacy Issues

Background Many countries across the globe have released their own COVID-19 contact tracing apps. This has resulted in the proliferation of several apps that used a variety of technologies. With the absence of a standardized approach used by the authorities, policy makers, and developers, many of these apps were unique. Therefore, they varied by function and the underlying technology used for contact tracing and infection reporting. Objective The goal of this study was to analyze most of the COVID-19 contact tracing apps in use today. Beyond investigating the privacy features, design, and implications of these apps, this research examined the underlying technologies used in contact tracing apps. It also attempted to provide some insights into their level of penetration and to gauge their public reception. This research also investigated the data collection, reporting, retention, and destruction procedures used by each of the apps under review. Methods This research study evaluated 13 apps corresponding to 10 countries based on the underlying technology used. The inclusion criteria ensured that most COVID-19-declared epicenters (ie, countries) were included in the sample, such as Italy. The evaluated apps also included countries that did relatively well in controlling the outbreak of COVID-19, such as Singapore. Informational and unofficial contact tracing apps were excluded from this study. A total of 30,000 reviews corresponding to the 13 apps were scraped from app store webpages and analyzed. Results This study identified seven distinct technologies used by COVID-19 tracing apps and 13 distinct apps. The United States was reported to have released the most contact tracing apps, followed by Italy. Bluetooth was the most frequently used underlying technology, employed by seven apps, whereas three apps used GPS. The Norwegian, Singaporean, Georgian, and New Zealand apps were among those that collected the most personal information from users, whereas some apps, such as the Swiss app and the Italian (Immuni) app, did not collect any user information. The observed minimum amount of time implemented for most of the apps with regard to data destruction was 14 days, while the Georgian app retained records for 3 years. No significant battery drainage issue was reported for most of the apps. Interestingly, only about 2% of the reviewers expressed concerns about their privacy across all apps. The number and frequency of technical issues reported on the Apple App Store were significantly more than those reported on Google Play; the highest was with the New Zealand app, with 27% of the reviewers reporting technical difficulties (ie, 10% out of 27% scraped reviews reported that the app did not work). The Norwegian, Swiss, and US (PathCheck) apps had the least reported technical issues, sitting at just below 10%. In terms of usability, many apps, such as those from Singapore, Australia, and Switzerland, did not provide the users with an option to sign out from their apps. Conclusions This article highlighted the fact that COVID-19 contact tracing apps are still facing many obstacles toward their widespread and public acceptance. The main challenges are related to the technical, usability, and privacy issues or to the requirements reported by some users.

Mobile Applications for Allergic Rhinitis

2018 ◽  
Vol 127 (11) ◽  
pp. 836-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert H. Zhou ◽  
Varesh R. Patel ◽  
Soly Baredes ◽  
Jean Anderson Eloy ◽  
Wayne D. Hsueh
Keyword(s):  
Allergic Rhinitis ◽  
Operating Systems ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
App Store ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Pollen Forecast ◽  
Google Play

Objective: To study and review the currently available mobile applications relating to allergic rhinitis. Methods: The Apple and Google mobile app stores were queried with search terms relating to allergic rhinitis. Apps were assigned to categories and analyzed based on description and characteristics such as popularity, reviews, cost, platform, and physician involvement in development. Results: A total of 72 apps related to allergic rhinitis were identified. Fifty-four apps were unique, with 18 apps found on both operating systems. Forty (55.5%) apps were available in the Apple App store, and 32 (44.4%) apps were available in the Google Play app store. They were grouped into the following categories: patient education (18; 25%), journals (15; 20.8%), symptom tracking (14; 19.4%), clinical/private practice (13; 18.1%), pollen forecast (7; 9.7%), medical education (4; 5.6%), and other (1; 1.4%). The majority of apps were free of charge (67; 93.1%), with paid apps ranging from $1.47 to $4.99. Apps that were reviewed had an average rating of 3.9 out of 5. Physicians were involved in the development of 37 (51.4%) apps. Conclusions: The collection of mobile apps developed for allergic rhinitis includes those for both educational and clinical use. Mobile apps may have an increasing role in otolaryngic allergy and rhinology practices in the future. Thus, continued research is warranted to determine the best way to ensure the accuracy and quality of app content as well as the extent mobile apps can benefit allergic rhinitis patients.

scholarly journals Analysis of Mobile Applications to Support Family Caregivers of People with Neurocognitive Disorders in Managing Disruptive Behaviors: A Qualitative Study with Users Embedded in a Scoping Review (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjorie Desormeaux-Moreau ◽  
Charlie-Maude Michel ◽  
Mélanie Vallières ◽  
Maryse Racine ◽  
Myriame Poulin-Paquet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Disruptive Behaviors ◽  
Neurocognitive Disorders ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Burden Of Care ◽  
Google Play ◽  
Support Family

BACKGROUND People with neurocognitive disorders (NCD) often display disruptive behaviors (eg, aggression, wandering and restlessness), which increase family caregivers’ burden of care. However, there are few tools currently available to help these caregivers manage disruptive behaviors. Mobile applications (apps) could meet this need but to date little is known about them. OBJECTIVE 1) Identify existing mobile apps designed to support family caregivers of people with NCD in managing disruptive behaviors; 2) Explore whether family caregivers view these mobile apps as relevant to meeting their needs and useful in managing disruptive behaviors; and 3) Document the types of mobile apps that appeal to and interest the most family caregivers (with regard to format, ergonomics, and clarity). METHODS A review of mobile apps initially conducted in February 2018 was updated in March 2019, using two platforms (App Store and Google Play). The selected apps were first analyzed independently by three raters (two students and one researcher) for each of the platforms. Then a focus group discussion was held with family caregivers to explore their perceptions of the apps according to their needs and interests. The content of the discussion was analyzed. RESULTS Seven of 118 apps initially identified met the inclusion criteria. An 8th app, recommended by one of the knowledge users, was added later. Four family caregivers (women aged between 58 and 78 years) participated in the discussion. Participants expressed a preference for easy-to-understand apps that provide concrete intervention strategies. They reported being most inclined to use two apps, Dementia Advisor and DTA Behaviours. CONCLUSIONS Few mobile apps on the market meet the needs of family caregivers in terms of content and usability. Our results could help to address this gap by identifying what family caregivers deem relevant in a mobile app to help them manage disruptive behaviors.

Ethical Ambiguities in the Privacy Policies of Mobile Health and Fitness Applications

2019 ◽  
pp. 877-888
Author(s):  
Devjani Sen ◽  
Rukhsana Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Health ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Privacy Policies ◽  
Email Address ◽  
Health And Fitness ◽  
The Creation

Personal applications (apps) collect all sorts of personal information like name, email address, age, height, weight, and in some cases, detailed health information. When using such apps, many users trustfully log everything from diet to sleep patterns. Studies suggest that many applications do not have a privacy policy, or users do not have access to an app's permissions before s/he downloads it to the mobile device. This raises questions regarding the ethics around sharing personal data gathered from health and fitness apps to third parties. Despite the important role of informed consent in the creation of health and fitness mobile applications, the intersection of ethics and sharing of personal information is understudied and is an often-ignored topic during the creation of mobile applications. After reviewing the online privacy policies of four mobile health and fitness apps, this chapter concludes with a set of recommendations when designing privacy policies to share personal information collected from health and fitness apps.

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