Improving Android Permissions Models for Increased User Awareness and Security

Determining how to make users more aware of the permissions used in their favorite apps is one of the largest challenges facing mobile developers today. Research has shown that the less aware a user is, the less secure they feel while using the app. Unfortunately, this same research has shown that users are not well informed of the permissions their apps use, leading to many users feeling insecure. This makes us ask, how can users become more informed about the permissions their apps use so they can feel more secure? o better understand this question, we examined the effects of the previous and current Android permissions models, as well as our proposed permissions model through an in person study. Our primary findings were I) Our proposed permissions model makes users significantly more secure than both Android models. II) Run-time based permissions models make users significantly more informed than install-time based models.