Every second free app requests access to sensitive information
There is rarely anything completely free. This also applies to apps: a study found a correlation between prices and privacy. The cheaper a mobile application, the more likely it is to require access rights to personal data.
Anyone who is asked when downloading an app whether they want to allow access rights such as "to record the user's location" or "to send data via the internet" should perhaps think twice before giving their consent. This is because a study by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) considers these rights to be problematic in terms of data protection law. In the study, the authors investigated the extent to which mobile applications are capable of invading users' privacy and collecting information about their behavior.
The study concludes that every second free app has access to sensitive information. According to the study published on Tuesday, just over 50 percent of free apps require permissions that are classified as problematic. In contrast, this proportion is only 20 percent for paid apps. For the providers of low-cost and free apps, the calculation still works out: The ability to access users' personal information is of value to the providers. They make their profit by selling products and services through the app or alternatively with personalized advertising and trading the collected data.
Whereabouts and address book
The authors identified a total of 136 different rights, 14 of which they classify as problematic for the protection of privacy. These include, for example, the right to "identify the smartphone with a unique ID". The conclusion is that around 40 percent of all apps make use of at least one of these problematic rights. 28% of apps had the option of uniquely identifying app users via their ID. In addition, app providers had the option of recording the location of users in 24% of all apps. A further eight percent of apps can access the user's address book.
Trust in the "good reputation"
It is true that the information about the required access rights does not leave users completely cold when making a download decision. According to the study, apps that require critical permissions are installed less frequently. However, this effect is rather small and disappears almost completely if app providers already have a certain level of awareness. The authors observe a "reputation effect" here, which causes users to be more willing to share sensitive information. The study examined the apps available in the Google Play Store in 2012. (SDA)
