3 ms·

Well I agree lots of times what the app wants is innocuous, I'd still rather have the message than not. Maybe an option to open up a more detailed description

Well I agree lots of times what the app wants is innocuous, I'd still rather have the message than not. Maybe an option to open up a more detailed description of what the app wants the permissions for?

maxxxxx 8y ago
Yes there should be much finer detail in permissions.
- ryanbrunner 8y ago
  Would it have helped in this case? Permissions should convey the privacy risk to the user, not just the technical details of what's happening. To a non-technical user, "Access nearby Wifi signals" (or something similar) sounds totally innocuous. Most people would approve that assuming that the app just wants to connect to the internet. You could get more detailed and say "Access nearby Wifi signals, which could reveal your location", which conveys the privacy risk. But to the average user, "access nearby wifi signals" isn't adding anything - the only real privacy risk is that location is revealed, so it just makes sense to convey it as your location. There's other cases where I think there's a better case for finer-grained permissions - some apps ask for phone call permission just so they can know whether you're a call or not - arguably something that should hardly require permission at all, but it's lumped in with one of the more scary sounding ones.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    I agree that the technical details may be difficult to understand but that shouldn’t be a reason to make permissions so broad. I bet if it served ad selling then the permissions would be narrower.
- UncleMeat 8y ago
  But we've done research on this. Fine grained permissions don't work, even for people who claim to be knowledgeable. It sounds like a good idea until you look at the papers.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    Maybe. At a minimum we should get a log about how apps are using their permissions. I think I am reasonably tech savvy but when I really want an app I pretty much have to agree to all permissions. I don't know how not agreeing will impact app performance.
  - tyingq 8y ago
    Web browsers let me upload a file without giving me permission as the "app writer" to trawl the filesystem. In this case, the phone OS could provide a similar interface for an app to pass off selection of an SSID or Bluetooth device to the OS, without giving away other permissions.
kalleboo 8y ago
On iOS, applications are required to submit a reason why they require the permissions which is then displayed to the user along with the permission request. I believe it's also looked at in app review if it's a valid reason.

maxxxxx 8y ago

Yes there should be much finer detail in permissions.

ryanbrunner 8y ago
Would it have helped in this case? Permissions should convey the privacy risk to the user, not just the technical details of what's happening. To a non-technical user, "Access nearby Wifi signals" (or something similar) sounds totally innocuous. Most people would approve that assuming that the app just wants to connect to the internet. You could get more detailed and say "Access nearby Wifi signals, which could reveal your location", which conveys the privacy risk. But to the average user, "access nearby wifi signals" isn't adding anything - the only real privacy risk is that location is revealed, so it just makes sense to convey it as your location. There's other cases where I think there's a better case for finer-grained permissions - some apps ask for phone call permission just so they can know whether you're a call or not - arguably something that should hardly require permission at all, but it's lumped in with one of the more scary sounding ones.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  I agree that the technical details may be difficult to understand but that shouldn’t be a reason to make permissions so broad. I bet if it served ad selling then the permissions would be narrower.
UncleMeat 8y ago
But we've done research on this. Fine grained permissions don't work, even for people who claim to be knowledgeable. It sounds like a good idea until you look at the papers.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  Maybe. At a minimum we should get a log about how apps are using their permissions. I think I am reasonably tech savvy but when I really want an app I pretty much have to agree to all permissions. I don't know how not agreeing will impact app performance.
- tyingq 8y ago
  Web browsers let me upload a file without giving me permission as the "app writer" to trawl the filesystem. In this case, the phone OS could provide a similar interface for an app to pass off selection of an SSID or Bluetooth device to the OS, without giving away other permissions.

kalleboo 8y ago

On iOS, applications are required to submit a reason why they require the permissions which is then displayed to the user along with the permission request. I believe it's also looked at in app review if it's a valid reason.