A Study of User Concerns about Smartphone Privacy

The widespread adoption of mobile devices, including smartphones, wearables, and the Internet of Things, fostered the potential for data collection and online sharing on a large scale. End users are enthusiastic about the opportunities to share information about their daily activities with their peers using novel devices. Still, there is a growing concern about their privacy. To devise privacy-enhancing technologies that meet users' needs, a better understanding of users' concerns and practices is needed. For that, we applied an online survey to 1,000 participants. We analyze their responses and in this paper we discuss the end users' perspective on mobile privacy, further eliciting the gaps of the Privacy Paradox. The results show that although users state privacy concerns, they do not always act to protect their privacy in mobile apps. Certain privacy actions tend to be more often considered by users. Specific sensors, applications, and data are more correlated with privacy concerns. The results indicate that users have significant concerns about privacy control and information leakage. The senior group (61+) is the group that needs the most help compared to the younger groups. Also, there is a gap between stated concerns and users' actions, and that novel solutions for privacy-enhancing technologies need yet to be developed to ensure that users understand, consider and use those.