Xiaoyuan Wu (Carnegie Mellon University), Lydia Hu (Carnegie Mellon University), Eric Zeng (Carnegie Mellon University), Hana Habib (Carnegie Mellon University), Lujo Bauer (Carnegie Mellon University)

Apple's App Privacy Report (``privacy report''), released in 2021, aims to
inform iOS users about apps' access to their data and sensors (e.g., contacts,
camera) and, unlike other privacy dashboards, what domains are contacted by apps and websites. To evaluate the
effectiveness of the privacy report, we conducted semi-structured interviews
(textit{n} = 20) to examine users' reactions to the information, their understanding of relevant privacy
implications, and how they might change
their behavior to address privacy concerns. Participants easily understood which
apps accessed data and sensors at certain times on their phones, and knew how to
remove an app's permissions in case of unexpected access. In contrast,
participants had difficulty understanding apps' and websites' network
activities. They were confused about how and why network activities occurred,
overwhelmed by the number of domains their apps contacted, and uncertain about
what remedial actions they could take against potential privacy threats. While
the privacy report and similar tools can increase transparency by presenting
users with details about how their data is handled, we recommend providing more
interpretation or aggregation of technical details, such as the purpose of
contacting domains, to help users make informed decisions.

View More Papers

UI-CTX: Understanding UI Behaviors with Code Contexts for Mobile...

Jiawei Li (Beihang University & National University of Singapore), Jiahao Liu (National University of Singapore), Jian Mao (Beihang University), Jun Zeng (National University of Singapore), Zhenkai Liang (National University of Singapore)

Read More

Starshields for iOS: Navigating the Security Cosmos in Satellite...

Jiska Classen (Hasso Plattner Institute, University of Potsdam), Alexander Heinrich (TU Darmstadt, Germany), Fabian Portner (TU Darmstadt, Germany), Felix Rohrbach (TU Darmstadt, Germany), Matthias Hollick (TU Darmstadt, Germany)

Read More

SongBsAb: A Dual Prevention Approach against Singing Voice Conversion...

Guangke Chen (Pengcheng Laboratory), Yedi Zhang (National University of Singapore), Fu Song (Key Laboratory of System Software (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and State Key Laboratory of Computer Science, Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Science; Nanjing Institute of Software Technology), Ting Wang (Stony Brook University), Xiaoning Du (Monash University), Yang Liu (Nanyang Technological University)

Read More

Fuzzing Space Communication Protocols

Stephan Havermans (IMDEA Software Institute), Lars Baumgaertner, Jussi Roberts, Marcus Wallum (European Space Agency), Juan Caballero (IMDEA Software Institute)

Read More