Reconciling mobile app privacy and usability on smartphones

As they compete for developers, mobile app ecosystems have been exposing a growing number of APIs through their software development kits. Many of these APIs involve accessing sensitive functionality and/or user data and require approval by users. Android for instance allows developers to select from over 130 possible permissions. Expecting users to review and possibly adjust settings related to these permissions has proven unrealistic. In this paper, we report on the results of a study analyzing people’s privacy preferences when it comes to granting permissions to different mobile apps. Our results suggest that, while people’s mobile app privacy preferences are diverse, a relatively small number of profiles can be identified that offer the promise of significantly simplifying the decisions mobile users have to make. Specifically, our results are based on the analysis of settings of 4.8 million smartphone users of a mobile security and privacy platform. The platform relies on a rooted version of Android where users are allowed to choose between “granting”, “denying ” or “requesting to be dynamically prompted ” when it comes to granting 12 different Android permissions to mobile apps they have downloaded. 1

AR-Miner: Mining informative reviews for developers from mobile app marketplace

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier

Quantitative Measurements of the Ciliary Body in Eyes With Acute Primary-Angle Closure

PURPOSE. To compare the structural differences of the ciliary body in patients with acute primary-angle closure (APAC) and normal subjects. METHODS. Forty-four patients with APAC in one eye and 25 eyes from 25 age-matched normal subjects were consecutively recruited. A-scan ultrasound and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) measurements were performed. Ciliary body parameters including maximum ciliary body thickness (CBTmax), ciliary body thickness at point of the scleral spur (CBT0) and 1000 lm from the scleral spur (CBT1000), anterior placement of ciliary body (APCB), and trabecular-ciliary process angle (TCA), as well as biometric measurements, were measured. RESULTS. Average CBTmax was 0.894 6 0.114, 0.967 6 0.110, and 1.053 6 0.103 mm in eyes with APAC, their fellow eyes, and normal eyes, respectively. Average CBT1000 was 0.616 6 0.111, 0.631 6 0.088, and 0.842 6 0.118 mm, respectively. Average TCA was 48.10 6 13.268, 50.60 6 9.088, and 87.11 6 20.718, respectively. CBTmax and CBT0 were thinner in eyes with APAC compared with their fellow eyes (P ¼ 0.002, P < 0.001). In addition, CBTmax, CBT1000, and TCA were smaller whereas APCB was larger in the fellow eyes of APAC patients compared with normal eyes (P ¼ 0.002, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P < 0.001). The anterior chamber depth (ACD) was smaller whereas lens thickness (LT) was larger in eyes with APAC compared with their fellow eyes (P < 0.001, P ¼ 0.036). Smaller ACD and axial length and larger LT and lens vault were found in the fellow eyes of APAC patients compared with normal eyes (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P ¼ 0.015, P ¼ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS. Ciliary bodies were thinner and more anteriorly rotated in eyes with APAC as well as in their fellow eyes. Further studies are needed to elucidate the relationship between ciliary body parameters and mechanism of APAC

Reconciling Mobile App Privacy and Usability on Smartphones: Could User Privacy Profiles Help?

by Google in the form of an unrestricted grant to the Mobile Commerce Laboratory. The authors would like to thank LBE Privacy Guard for sharing with them the data analyzed as part of this study. Keywords As they compete for developers, mobile app ecosystems have been exposing a growing number of APIs through their software development kits. Many of these APIs involve accessing sensitive functionality and/or user data and require approval by users. Android for instance allows developers to select from over 130 possible permissions. Expecting users to review and possibly adjust settings related to these permissions has proven unrealistic. In this paper, we report on the results of a study analyzing people’s privacy preferences when it comes to granting permissions to different mobile apps. Our results suggest that, while people’s mobile app privacy preferences are diverse, a relatively small number of profiles can be identified that offer the promise of significantly simplifying the decisions mobile users have to make. Specifically, our results are based on the analysis of settings of 4.8 million smartphone users of a mobile security and privacy platform. The platform relies on a rooted version of Android where users are allowed to choose between “granting”, “denying ” or “requesting to be dynamically prompted ” when it comes to granting 12 different Android permissions to mobile apps they have downloade