1- https://doi.org/10.1145/3691620.3695340
From Logging to Leakage: A Study of Privacy Leakage in Android App Logs
Translate Article 
Android phones are among the most popular mobile devices today, providing users with a wide array of convenient services through various apps. These apps generate software logs during their runtime, which record their behavior, status, and error information. However, these logs can also inadvertently capture sensitive information and user privacy data, often without the developer's awareness. In this study, we constructed a dataset comprising 67,702 log records from 83 Android apps. Our analysis of this dataset identified 610 instances of privacy leakage, which indicates the prevalence of such issues in Android app logs. Additionally, our analysis identified characteristics of Android app logs with exposed sensitive information and revealed a gap between developers' awareness of privacy protection and privacy leakage in real-world scenarios.
- Conference Article
- 1
- 10.1145/3691620.3695609
- Oct 27, 2024
Android is the most popular mobile operating system, which attracts countless users. However, Android app logs, which record Android runtime information, are often overlooked in privacy leakage vulnerability research. Existing studies on privacy leakage vulnerabilities in Android apps primarily focus on static and dynamic analysis, with a lack of comprehensive studies specifically addressing privacy leakage vulnerabilities in Android app logs. In this paper, we propose to conduct a comprehensive study to fill this research gap. Our study includes two aspects: (1) gathering real-world developers' views on privacy leakage vulnerabilities in Android app logs and (2) exploring the status of privacy leakage vulnerabilities in the latest Android app logs. Our preliminary results indicate the potential of this study.
- Conference Article
- 10.1145/3663529.3664461
- Jul 10, 2024
Privacy leakage in software logs, especially in Android apps, has become a major concern. While the significance of software logs in debugging and monitoring software state is well recognized, the exponential growth in log size has led to challenges in identifying unexpected information, including sensitive user information. This paper provides a comprehensive study of privacy leakage in Android app logs to address the lack of extensive research in this area. From a dataset constructed from PlayDrone-selected Android apps, we analyze privacy leaks, detect instances of privacy leakage, and identify third-party libraries that are implicated. The findings highlight the prevalence of privacy leaks in Android app logs, with implications for user security and potential economic losses. This study emphasizes the need for developers to be more aware and take proactive measures to protect user privacy in software logging practices.
