Search results
1 – 10 of over 3000Ioannis Paspatis, Aggeliki Tsohou and Spyros Kokolakis
Privacy policies emerge as the main mechanism to inform users on the way their information is managed by online service providers, and still remain the dominant approach for this…
Abstract
Purpose
Privacy policies emerge as the main mechanism to inform users on the way their information is managed by online service providers, and still remain the dominant approach for this purpose. The literature notes that users find difficulties in understanding privacy policies because they are usually written in technical or legal language even, although most users are unfamiliar with them. These difficulties have led most users to skip reading privacy policies and blindly accept them. This study aims to address this challenge this paper presents AppAware, a multiplatform tool that intends to improve the visualization of privacy policies for mobile applications.
Design/methodology/approach
AppAware formulates a visualized report with the permission set of an application, which is easily understandable by a common user. AppAware aims to bridge the difficulty to read privacy policies and android’s obscure permission set with a new privacy policy visualization model. Thus, we propose AppAware parser, a mobile add-on that acts complementary with AppAware and helps mobile device users to monitor the applications they installed to their smart device.
Findings
To validate AppAware, the authors conducted a survey through questionnaire aiming to evaluate AppAware in terms of installability, usability and viability-purpose. The results demonstrate that AppAware is assessed above average by the users in all categories.
Originality/value
In the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no such approach as AppAware as an application nor AppAware parser as add-on.
Details
Keywords
The frequency and sophistication of cybercrimes are increasing. These cybercrimes are impacting government and private organizations as well as individuals. One of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The frequency and sophistication of cybercrimes are increasing. These cybercrimes are impacting government and private organizations as well as individuals. One of the countermeasures is to improve the cyber hygiene of the end-users. Serious games or game-based learning has emerged as a promising approach for implementing security education, training and awareness program. In this paper, the researchers propose a tabletop card game called Cyber Suraksha to increase threat awareness and motivate users to adopt recommended security controls for smartphone users. Cyber Suraksha provides an active learning environment for the players. This paper aims to provide the details of the design and evaluation of the game using a between-subjects design.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers have used constructive learning theory and the Fogg behaviour model (FBM) to design a tabletop card game called Cyber Suraksha. The researchers evaluated the game using a between-subjects design. The participants' responses in the control and intervention groups were collected using the risk behaviour diagnosis scale. Pearson’s Chi-Square test with a 5% significance level was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results indicate that the game is enjoyable and fun. Cyber Suraksha game effectively motivates users to adopt the recommended security control for the targeted behaviour. The results indicate that the participants in the intervention group are 2.65 times more likely to adopt recommended behaviour. The findings of this study provide evidence for the effectiveness of hope and fear appeals in improving cybersecurity awareness.
Research limitations/implications
The generalizability of the study is limited because the sample size is small compared to the total number of smartphone users in India, and only students from computer/IT UG programs in India are used as participants in this study.
Practical implications
This study uses hope and a fear appeal to design an effective serious game. It also demonstrates using the FBM and constructive learning principles for effective serious game design. Cyber Suraksha is effective for the student group and may be tested with other age groups.
Originality/value
To the researchers' knowledge, there are no serious games for cybersecurity awareness focusing on the threats faced by smartphone users based on FBM and constructive learning theory. This research used hope along with a fear appeal to motivate smartphone users to adopt recommended security controls.
Details
Keywords
Pervasive computing environments such as a pervasive campus domain, shopping, etc. will become commonplaces in the near future. The key to enhance these system environments with…
Abstract
Purpose
Pervasive computing environments such as a pervasive campus domain, shopping, etc. will become commonplaces in the near future. The key to enhance these system environments with services relies on the ability to effectively model and represent contextual information, as well as spontaneity in downloading and executing the service interface on a mobile device. The system needs to provide an infrastructure that handles the interaction between a client device that requests a service and a server which responds to the client's request via Web service calls. The system should relieve end‐users from low‐level tasks of matching services with locations or other context information. The mobile users do not need to know or have any knowledge of where the service resides, how to call a service, what the service API detail is and how to execute a service once downloaded. All these low‐level tasks can be handled implicitly by a system. The aim of this paper is to investigate the notion of context‐aware regulated services, and how they should be designed, and implemented.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a detailed design, and prototype implementation of the system, called mobile hanging services (MHS), that provides the ability to execute mobile code (service application) on demand and control entities' behaviours in accessing services in pervasive computing environments. Extensive evaluation of this prototype is also provided.
Findings
The framework presented in this paper enables a novel contextual services infrastructure that allows services to be described at a high level of abstraction and to be regulated by contextual policies. This contextual policy governs the visibility and execution of contextual services in the environment. In addition, a range of contextual services is developed to illustrate different types of services used in the framework.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this paper is a high‐level model of a system for context‐aware regulated services, which consists of environments (domains and spaces), contextual software components, entities and computing devices.
Details
Keywords
Spyros E. Polykalas and George N. Prezerakos
Mobile devices (smartphones, tables etc.) have become the de facto means of accessing the internet. While traditional Web browsing is still quite popular, significant interaction…
Abstract
Purpose
Mobile devices (smartphones, tables etc.) have become the de facto means of accessing the internet. While traditional Web browsing is still quite popular, significant interaction takes place via native mobile apps that can be downloaded either freely or at a cost. This has opened the door to a number of issues related to privacy protection since the smartphone stores and processes personal data. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of access to personal data, required by the most popular mobile apps available in Google Play store. In addition, it is examined whether the relevant procedure is in accordance with the provisions of the new EU Regulation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines more than a thousand mobile apps, available from the Google Play store, with respect to the extent of the requests for access to personal data. In particular, for each available category in Google Play store, the most popular mobile apps have been examined both for free and paid apps. In addition, the permissions required by free and paid mobile apps are compared. Furthermore, a correlation analysis is carried out aiming to reveal any correlation between the extent of required access to personal data and the popularity and the rating of each mobile app.
Findings
The findings of this paper suggest that the majority of examined mobile apps require access to personal data to a high extent. In addition, it is found that free mobile apps request access to personal data in a higher extent compared to the relevant requests by paid apps, which indicates strongly that the business model of free mobile apps is based on personal data exploitation. The most popular types of access permissions are revealed for both free and paid apps. In addition, important questions are raised in relation to user awareness and behavior, data minimization and purpose limitation for free and paid mobile apps.
Originality/value
In this study, the process and the extent of access to personal data through mobile apps are analyzed. Although several studies analyzed relevant issues in the past, the originality of this research is mainly based on the following facts: first, this work took into account the recent Regulation of the EU in relation to personal data (GDPR); second, the authors analyzed a high number of the most popular mobile apps (more than a thousand); and third, the authors compare and analyze the different approaches followed between free and paid mobile apps.
Details
Keywords
Jung-Kuei Hsieh and Hsiang-Tzu Li
With the popularity of mobile applications and increasing consumer awareness of application privacy, this paper aims to introduce a new construct of service-privacy fit (i.e. the…
Abstract
Purpose
With the popularity of mobile applications and increasing consumer awareness of application privacy, this paper aims to introduce a new construct of service-privacy fit (i.e. the perceived degree of match between the service of a mobile application and a privacy permission request) to predict consumers’ mobile application adoption.
Design/methodology/approach
Four experiments were carried out to test the hypothesized relationships. The first study investigated the direct impact of service-privacy fit on application adoption and the mediators of benefit expectancy and privacy concerns. The second, third and fourth studies further applied the moderated mediation model to analyze the moderating roles of benefit message type, regulatory focus type and privacy assurance.
Findings
The results show that service-privacy fit influences application adoption not only directly but also indirectly via the mediators of benefit expectancy and privacy concerns. Furthermore, the findings confirm the moderators of benefit message type, regulatory focus type and privacy assurance.
Originality/value
Drawn from the perspectives of task-technology fit and information boundary theory, this paper introduces a new construct of service-privacy fit as a determinant of application adoption. Grounded in privacy calculus theory, it further explains this relationship through mediating effects of benefit expectancy and privacy concerns. Furthermore, this paper proposes that benefit messages and privacy assurance are effective coping strategies to increase the benefit expectancy and reduce the privacy concerns of applications. Based on the perspective of regulatory fit theory, this study further shows that the effects of coping strategies rely on personal traits. The findings enrich the existing knowledge of mobile application adoption and application privacy, suggesting that practitioners should consider mobile consumers’ perception of service-privacy fit when developing applications.
Details
Keywords
Matina Tsavli, Pavlos S. Efraimidis, Vasilios Katos and Lilian Mitrou
This paper aims to discuss the privacy and security concerns that have risen from the permissions model in the Android operating system, along with two shortcomings that have not…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the privacy and security concerns that have risen from the permissions model in the Android operating system, along with two shortcomings that have not been adequately addressed.
Design/methodology/approach
The impact of the applications’ evolutionary increment of permission requests from both the user’s and the developer’s point of view is studied, and finally, a series of remedies against the erosion of users’ privacy is proposed.
Findings
The results of this work indicate that, even though providing access to personal data of smartphone users is by definition neither problematic nor unlawful, today’s smartphone operating systems do not provide an adequate level of protection for the user’s personal data. However, there are several ideas that can significantly improve the situation and mitigate privacy concerns of users of smart devices.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed approach was evaluated through an examination of the Android’s permission model, although issues arise in other operating systems. The authors’ future intention is to conduct a user study to measure the user’s awareness and concepts surrounding privacy concerns to empirically investigate the above-mentioned suggestions.
Practical implications
The proposed suggestions in this paper, if adopted in practice, could significantly improve the situation and mitigate privacy concerns of users of smart devices.
Social implications
The recommendations proposed in this paper would strongly enhance the control of users over their personal data and improve their ability to distinguish legitimate apps from malware or grayware.
Originality/value
This paper emphasises two shortcomings of the permissions models of mobile operating systems which, in authors’ view, have not been adequately addressed to date and propose an inherent way for apps and other entities of the mobile computing ecosystem to commit to responsible and transparent practices on mobile users’ privacy.
Details
Keywords
Phumisak Smutkupt, Donyaprueth Krairit and Do Ba Khang
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of SMS (Short Message Service) advertising on consumer perceptions of Au Bon Pain's brand equity in Thailand.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of SMS (Short Message Service) advertising on consumer perceptions of Au Bon Pain's brand equity in Thailand.
Design/methodology/approach
The experimental study was based on a 4×2 between‐subjects design, with four levels of message types (personalization, interactivity, general, and no message control) and two levels of permission (with and without permission). Structural equation modeling was utilized to test the hypotheses.
Findings
SMS marketing is found to have a significant positive impact on brand awareness and perceived quality. Personalized, interactive, and general messages are effective for building brand awareness, and general and personalized messages positively influence perceived quality. With the right choice of message, explicit permission enhances the effects of SMS marketing on brand association.
Research limitations/implications
The experiment was conducted over a period of one month, with three SMS ads sent to each subject. Future research could extend the trial period and increase the number and variation of ads to confirm validity of the results.
Practical implications
As text message ads have a strong impact on brand awareness, marketers should focus on using text messages as reminders or updates rather than for complete marketing campaigns. They should also focus on offering permission‐based customers personalized information.
Originality/value
This is among the first mobile marketing experiments in a real‐life setting. Real text‐based promotions from an existing brand (Au Bon Pain) were tested on consumers. This approach creates a natural ad‐processing situation for participants, thus increasing the internal validity of the experiment.
Details
Keywords
The development of mobile applications in multiple clouds environment is a complex task because of the lack of platform standards in cloud computing and mobile computing. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The development of mobile applications in multiple clouds environment is a complex task because of the lack of platform standards in cloud computing and mobile computing. The source code involves various proprietary programming libraries for different platforms. However, functionalities are inevitably changed over time, as well as the platform. Therefore, a great deal of development effort is required, when changes need to be made at functional and platform level. This paper aims to propose SIMON, a framework that eases complexity of the development to support software evolution.
Design/methodology/approach
SIMON shields the developer from the complexity of mobile and cloud platforms in the development of mobile applications in multiple clouds environment. The framework uses model of application design to automate the development and support execution of mobile applications in system environment that needs integration to the number of data sources located on multiple clouds. The framework is composed of prefabricated components that support function changeability and platform adaptability.
Findings
The framework is examined with the development of a sample application. After it is evaluated with scenarios that involve changing at functional and platform levels, the result shows significant reducing of the development effort by comparing with the other approaches.
Originality/value
The framework facilitates the implementation of mobile applications in the software system that involves integration to multiple clouds, and it supports software evolution with lesser development effort.
Details
Keywords
Sarah Hudson and Yi Liu
As mobile apps request permissions from users, protecting mobile users' personal information from being unnecessarily collected and misused becomes critical. Privacy regulations…
Abstract
Purpose
As mobile apps request permissions from users, protecting mobile users' personal information from being unnecessarily collected and misused becomes critical. Privacy regulations, such as General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union (EU), aim to protect users' online information privacy. However, one’s understanding of whether these regulations effectively make mobile users less concerned about their privacy is still limited. This work aims to study mobile users' privacy concerns towards mobile apps by examining the effects of general and specific privacy assurance statements in China and the EU.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on ecological rationality and heuristics theory, an online experiment and a follow-up validation experiment were conducted in the EU and China to examine the effects of privacy assurance statements on mobile users' privacy concerns.
Findings
When privacy regulation is presented, the privacy concerns of Chinese mobile users are significantly lowered compared with EU mobile users. This indicates that individuals in the two regions react differently to privacy assurances. However, when a general regulation statement is used, no effect is observed. EU and Chinese respondents remain unaffected by general assurance statements.
Originality/value
This study incorporates notions from fast and frugal heuristics end ecological rationality – where seemingly irrational decisions may make sense in different societal contexts.
Details
Keywords
Aysegul Toker, Kaan Varnali and Cengiz Yilmaz
Mobile marketing.
Abstract
Subject area
Mobile marketing.
Study level/applicability
Undergraduate and Graduate levels.
Case overview
Driven by the ongoing evolution in mobile technologies and the increasing penetration of smart phones, the use of the mobile medium for marketing purposes is becoming more and more popular across industries. This case study presents an overview of the mobile marketing ecosystem embedded in the story of the transition of Turkcell from a traditional carrier into a leading mobile services provider. The aim is to familiarize the reader with the benefits and challenges of using the mobile medium for marketing communications and provide lessons from Turkcell experience for success in mobile marketing.
Expected learning outcomes
Develop a comprehensive understanding of the concept of “mobile marketing” and the current state of mobile technologies; develop a general knowledge of various types of mobile marketing applications; have a general knowledge and understanding of the consumer-centric value propositions of mobile marketing; gain a perspective on the nature and dynamics of mobile business environment and have the chance to examine real-market campaigns that leverage unique properties of the mobile medium.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes.
Details