Usable Privacy in Location-Based Services: The Need for a Regulatory Framework

Abstract

Facing the last decades of information technology, the importance of ‘usable privacy and security’ (UPS) increased significantly. Previous studies have uncovered a tremendous gap in UPS-related research, especially concerning location-based services (LBS). This contribution aims to reduce this gap by identifying factors leading to a more user-centric design of LBS. It relies on guided interviews with international experts either with a scientific or an entrepreneurial background. The findings support solutions equipping the user with more control of owned data, thus ensuring more self-determination and decision-making authority affecting personal information. The study makes use of a qualitative content analysis in order to identify relevant factors that reveal which data security-related aspects are important by designing location-based services. The findings lead to two key outcomes: Firstly, the implementation of easier to use data security tools in applications based on LBS often comes with an information overload affecting the user. Secondly, a regulatory framework for third party vendors, users, and providers to address the lack of knowledge for user-friendly LBS turns out to be the key requirement for successful implementation of UPS.