Bachelor Thesis
Do SDK providers favor privacy-preserving mechanisms?
Privacy concerns arise with the proliferation of online services where one needs to create an account, i.e., establish a digital identity so that a service provider can keep a state regarding users’ activities and let them have a personalized experience. Moreover, we realize how the correlation of data across many data sources can quickly bring to a detailed and accurate profile of our online persona.
Today, most user-oriented services are offered through mobile applications to make it even easier to access such services. However, mobile devices alone have become a centralized asset for humans. These devices not only store personal information but, because of the many sensors they are equipped with, they can collect a lot of auxiliary information about users’ habits, preferences, and behaviors. How are these data used on the device, and how easy is it to retrieve them?
In this work, we aim to observe how SDKs from mobile developing platforms have changed over the years to adapt to privacy regulations and access more fine-grained user information. What different permissions can a user grant, and how easy is revoking them?
We want to understand how pervasive these technologies can be in users’ routines and hobbies by categorizing apps based on the service offered.
Finally, are SDKs favoring data collection or user privacy?