Information acquisition , mobile applications , smartphones , online privacy , permissions , price , privacy regulation
Abstract:
We study the role of privacy in the market for mobile applications. For such programs
used with smartphones and tablet PCs a very important market has emerged.
Yet, neither the role of privacy on that market is well understood, nor do we have
empirical evidence regarding its role therein. We exploit data on 300,000 mobile applications
and almost 600 “applications-pairs” to analyze both sides of this market:
First, we analyze the price that application suppliers charge for more privacy. Second,
we study how users’ installations are related to the “personal data greediness”
of mobile applications.
We provide the first empirical evidence on the main assumptions of recent early
models on suppliers’ and consumers’ strategies in this market. Our results show
that (1) consumers take it into account when applications request rights to collect
private information and (2) suppliers ask for more rights if they offer an app for free
than if they offer it for a fee.
Das Dokument wird vom Publikationsserver der Universitätsbibliothek Mannheim bereitgestellt.