Degrees of sharing

Abstract

This paper explores the phone and mobile media sharing relationships of a group of young mobile phone users in Khayelitsha, South Africa. Intensive sharing took place within peer and intimate relationships, while resource sharing characterized relationships with a more extensive circle, including members of the older generation. Phones were kept open to others to avoid inferences of stinginess, disrespect, or secretiveness and the use of privacy features (such as passwords) was complicated by conflicts between an ethos of mutual support and the protection of individual property and privacy. Collocated phone use trumped online sharing but media on phones constituted public personae similar to social media 'profiles'. Proximate sharing within close relationships allowed social display, relationshipbuilding and deference to authority. We suggest changes to current file-based interfaces for Bluetooth pairing, media 'galleries', and peer-to-peer text communication to better support such proximate exchanges of media and messaging.

Examining Security and Privacy Research in Developing Regions

“…Mobile phones are designed as single-user personal devices, but they are often shared with family members and friends, especially in low-income environments [64,119]. People who are aware of the privacy risks of phone sharing use ad-hoc measures such as renaming files (i.e., security by obscurity), using folder-or application-level locks [64], and using multiple storage cards [136] to hide content from others, but none of these methods offer a suitable solution since people tend to share their passwords with others because of social obligations [51,68,147].…”

“…Thus, the predominant type of sharing in developing regions is for mutual use. Sociocultural norms (culture) also influence sharing, more in developing regions compared to developed regions, and often lead to forced sharing (e.g., sharing a phone with a friend due to social pressure) [27,147]. Lack of knowledge (knowledge gap) and self-confidence to operate phones also lead people to request outside help (i.e., intermediation [127]) that could lead to unexpected privacy risks.…”

Make Yourself at Phone

“…Here people might borrow a phone to make a call because they have run out of airtime, to browse the internet because their data-bundle is depleted, or to take a photo using a better camera. Particularly in resource-constrained communities, phone-sharing practices [27,28] are also about resourcesharing [36] and not just building and maintaining social and community relationships. In addition, a difficult to overlook fact, particularly in resource-constrained, urban settings is the relationship between mobile phones and crime.…”

“…In addition, a difficult to overlook fact, particularly in resource-constrained, urban settings is the relationship between mobile phones and crime. For instance, the participants in Walton et al's study of mobile media sharing practices of young people in Khayelitsha, a township in Cape Town, South Africa, "experienced chronic insecurity because of high crime rates, and their mobile phones were often targeted in petty theft and more serious crimes" [36].…”

“…Many people see their phones as an essential part of their everyday lives [9,35], and we of course appreciate that people everywhere think carefully before they share their mobile phones [16], often worry about their personal data [15], and that mobile phone theft is possible anywhere [32]. But in this research we were initially motivated and informed by the needs and desires of "emergent" users [7,36]. These users are just beginning to get access to lower-end or second-hand smartphones, but face a variety of resource-constraints, do not necessarily have regular access to reliable charging facilities or can not afford constant data connectivity, and are often more security conscious and worried about their safety, and that of their mobile phones, than those in resource-rich contexts.…”