Exploring user perceptions of deletion in mobile instant messaging applications

Theodor Schnitzler,Florian M Farke,Markus Dürmuth,Christine Utz,Christina Pöpper

doi:10.1093/cybsec/tyz016

Theodor Schnitzler, Florian M Farke + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyz016

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Abstract

Abstract Contemporary mobile messaging provides rich text and multimedia functionality leaving detailed trails of sensitive user information that can span long periods of time. Allowing users to manage the privacy implications both on the sender and the receiver side can help to increase confidence in the use of communication applications. In October 2017, one of the mobile messengers with the largest user base, WhatsApp, introduced a feature to delete past messages from communication, both from the sender’s and the recipient’s devices. In this article, we compare the deletion features of 17 popular messaging applications. Implementations of these features widely differ across the applications we examined. We further report on a study with 125 participants conducted in a between-subjects design. We explore users’ preferences for deleting mobile messages, and we investigate how well they comprehend this functionality as implemented in popular messaging applications. We found statistically significant differences in users’ understanding of message deletion between our three test conditions, comprising WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Skype. Eighty percent of participants in the WhatsApp condition could correctly assess the effects of deleting messages, compared to only 49% in the Skype condition. In addition, we provide insights into qualitative feedback received from our participants. Our findings indicate that message deletion is seen as a potentially useful feature that users may be able to use in different ways, including editing messages. Furthermore, users can more precisely estimate the capabilities of a deletion function when its effects are transparently explained in the application’s user interface.

Highlights

As internet-connected smartphones are prevalent nowadays, instant messaging applications on these devices are very popular, resulting in more and more people using mobile messaging apps in their daily communication with their peers [1]
Our findings indicate that message deletion is seen as a potentially useful feature that users may be able to use in different ways, including editing messages
The functionality to delete an entire conversation is an additional feature supported by all mobile instant messaging applications we considered, except for GroupMe

Summary

Introduction

As internet-connected smartphones are prevalent nowadays, instant messaging applications on these devices are very popular, resulting in more and more people using mobile messaging apps in their daily communication with their peers [1]. In contrast to face-to-face talks or telephone calls, the course of a conversation in mobile messaging is usually logged by each participant. The increasing use of mobile messaging in everyday life carries the risk of accidentally sending messages to the wrong recipient. This can be a serious threat to users’ privacy, especially when the communication contains sensitive personal information. We asked the participants to write, send, and delete a message using a specific instant messaging service. Participants were asked to type an arbitrary message, but if they struggled to come up with a message of their own, we suggested them to send “hello.”

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