Privacy intrusiveness measurements
Please imagine that you are working for a company called WeCreateApps, a software company that develops different applications. As part of your job you make decisions on the application's design.
[basic and advanced personas only:] Your team works on creating new mobile applications. As part of the design, your team is interested in understanding how users are using the applications, their feelings about them, etc. Therefore, interviews have been conducted with several end-users.
The following are short descriptions of the applications that are currently being developed.
[basic and advanced personas only:] In addition, quotes from the users on future applications are presented. Please read the descriptions and quotes and answer the following questions.
[Each scenario was followed by question to which the participants answered on a scale of 1 to 7 (1 - Strongly disagree, 7 - Strongly agree]
1. “WeMail” (free application)
The app enables the user to manage his/her emails (send, receive, etc.).
[data:] The app requests permission to constantly access the user's contacts list. The information is also used to send emails to the user's contacts to attract new users.
[basic and advanced personas:] Lisa Johnson, end-user: “From my own experience, similar apps request to constantly access my contact list. A few hours after installing the app, several friends of mine told me that they had received an email from WeMail recommending that they install the app as well.”
Question: As a team member of the app company, I think it is okay for the app to use contact list information.
2. “Photo Album Creator” (free application)
The app enables the user to create photo albums from photos that stored on a device’s memory card (e.g., photos taken through a device’s camera or photos sent through other apps such as WhatsApp).
[data:] The app shares albums with other users who are defined as the user's "Friends" by default. Sharing settings can be changed by the user.
[basic and advanced personas:] Kathy Griffin, end-user: "After creating the first album, one of my friends told me she had enjoyed looking at it. I only then recalled that although I can change the settings, the albums are constantly shared by default with other users defined as "Friends."
Question: As a team member of the app company, I think it is okay to share albums with friends by default.
3. “WeFit” (free application)
The app enables the user to track his/her sports activities by providing information on calories expended, speed, and location tracking.
[data:] Once a user shares his/her activity information with another user, the app automatically shares future activity information, including the user’s current location.
[basic and advanced personas:] Amy Smith, end-user: “Some of my friends and I downloaded the app. After completing my first run, I shared with my friend, Julie, my running pace and all other records (average speed, etc.). A few days later, Julie surprised me with a bottle of juice at one point along my route. She explained that once I share my activity information with another user, the app automatically shares future activity information, including my current location.”
Question: As a team member of the app company, I think it is okay that once a user shares his/her fitness activity information with another user, the app shares future activity information by default.
4. “BiP” (free application)
The app allows the user to share information with other users similar to the Facebook app.
[data:] Every week the app re-shares a post published during the previous week, and why certain posts are re-shared is not explained.
[basic and advanced personas:] Karen Baker, end-user: "I was asked (by the WeCreateApps team) to download the app and to use it for a month. I noticed that every week, one of the posts I had shared in the previous week was re-posted on my wall. I don't know why specific posts were re-shared by the app.”
Question: As a team member of the app company, I think it is okay to re-share previous posts by default.
5. (*) “Emoji Keyboard” (free application)
The app allows users to send messages with special emojis.
[data:] The app requests permission to constantly access the user's exact location.
[basic and advanced personas:] Donna Miller, end-user: "Usually, before I download a new app, I check which permissions are required. For example, required permissions included a constant access to my exact location. I accepted the required permissions and it provided me with some very cool emojis for my outgoing messages (for Snapchat, WhatsApp and so on).
Question: As a team member of the app company, I think it is okay for the app to request my location information.
(*) was removed due to a lowered Cronbach’s α value