Assessing privacy behaviors of smartphone users in the context of data over-collection problem: An exploratory study

Abstract

Data over-collection is a widespread problem in smartphones. Information-rich nature of data stored on smartphones makes them attractive targets for those seeking user data. Many smartphone applications collect user data that are beyond their functional needs. This behavior of smartphone applications puts smartphone users vulnerable to potential privacy violations. We believe that, in addition to hardware and software controls, privacy behavior of users can play a fundamental role in encountering problems like data over-collection. Learning such behaviors is, therefore, of interest to researchers, solution designers, experience designers, privacy experts, and regulators. Moreover, privacy is a globally occurring process, yet it is unique in different cultures. Therefore, privacy behaviors, in given cultural and technical contexts, can be valuable for experts. We conducted an exploratory study to assess privacy behaviors of smartphone users in Pakistan in the context of data over-collection problem. In this study, we surveyed a representative sample of smartphone users at a Pakistani academic institution. The study explored perceived data-sensitivity, privacy awareness, basic privacy management skills, and general privacy attitudes of our target user group. We also examined changes in respective variable values, if smartphone users are pre-informed of data over-collection problem through an informal privacy awareness session. We present the findings of our study in this paper.