Designing a Mobile Application to Support Social Processes for Privacy Decisions

Abstract

People often rely on their friends, family, and other loved ones to help them make decisions about digital privacy and security. However, these social processes are rarely supported by technology. To address this gap, we developed an Android-based mobile application ("app") prototype which helps individuals collaborate with people they know to make informed decisions about their app privacy permissions. To evaluate our design, we conducted an interview study with 10 college students while they interacted with our prototype. Overall, participants responded positively to the novel idea of using social collaboration as a means for making better privacy decisions. Yet, we also found that users are less inclined to help others and may be only willing to partake in conversations that directly affect themselves. We discuss the potential for embedding social processes in the design of systems that support privacy decision-making, as well as some of the challenges of this approach. I.

From Parental Control to Joint Family Oversight

“…In a follow-up study, Kropcynski et al [30] further validated the applicability of the model of community oversight within older adult communities. Therefore, we adapted and implemented their initial app design [4], which was instantiated from the model of community oversight to assess whether this approach would be suitable for the unique relationship between parents and teens.…”

“…For example, teens did not expect their parents needed help with their online safety, and were thus reluctant to provide such oversight. This reluctance of users to participate in oversight to others was a concern raised by Aljallad et al [4] in their initial study of the CO-oPS idea. Another threat to participating in collaborative privacy management is having doubts about the feedback given by others.…”

“…Thus, technologies that provide real-time monitoring and promote bi-directional communication between parents and teens may be well-suited for supporting this dynamic. In a parallel but different research domain, networked privacy researchers (e.g., [4,14,18]) have been moving toward more collaborative and community-based approaches for co-managing mobile devices within trusted groups, including family members, friends, and co-workers. Yet, the parent-teen relationship is complex and nuanced in that adolescence is a unique developmental stage of seeking more independence from one's parents [16].…”

It Takes a Village: A Case for Including Extended Family Members in the Joint Oversight of Family-based Privacy and Security for Mobile Smartphones

“…Users are also influenced by others' privacy and security practices to make changes to their own privacy behaviors [11-13, 16, 25]. Therefore, networked privacy researchers have called for more collaborative approaches within an individual's networks so that people can exchange mobile privacy, safety, and security support with one another [3,9,12]. However, Kropczynski et al [18] have reported that in order to get effective support for digital privacy and security management, one must have some technical expertise in their community.…”

“…Unfortunately, the majority of U.S. adults lack knowledge regarding how to protect their digital privacy and security, which increases the potential for privacy and security violations [27]. Due to the lack of mobile privacy knowledge at an individual level, networked privacy researchers (e.g., [3,9,12]) have suggested adopting more collaborative and community-based approaches for managing digital privacy and security, where trusted community members (e.g., family, friends, co-workers) can work together to help keep one another safe online. Interestingly, some research has even shown how adult family members often rely on younger generations of their family (e.g., their teens) for technology support, as youth may be tech-savvier than their parents [10,26].…”