Android app permission and users’ adoption: A case study of mental health application

Hsiao Ying Huang, Masooda Bashir

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The prevalent use of mobile devices makes mobile applications (apps) a promising approach to enhance mental healthcare. However, at the same time, users’ information privacy and security becomes a serious concern due to the ubiquitous data collection of mobile device, especially when it comes to mental health information. With the exponential development of the current Android app market, hundreds of mental health apps are available to users. We are interested in how app permission, as the only information available about app privacy, is related to users’ adoption of mental health apps. Considering that mental health is a broad field, this study focuses on one mental health condition: anxiety. A systematic search of anxiety apps was conducted on the Android app store. A total of 274 apps were collected and analyzed. In this study, we revealed the relationship between app permission and users’ anxiety app adoption. We found that anxiety apps with more app permissions have higher installs. Also, certain app permissions are significantly related to the installation and rating of apps, such as the permission of in-app purchases, cameras, and location. This study provides a big picture of how app permission is connected with mental health app adoption. We believe this is an important step before we can identify which apps may pose higher risks for compromising users’ information privacy and security.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationHuman Aspects of Information Security, Privacy and Trust - 5th International Conference, HAS 2017 Held as Part of HCI International 2017, Proceedings
EditorsTheo Tryfonas
PublisherSpringer
Pages110-122
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)9783319584591
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
Event5th International Conference on Human Aspects of Information Security, Privacy and Trust, HAS 2017, held as part of 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCI 2017 - Vancouver, Canada
Duration: Jul 9 2017Jul 14 2017

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10292 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Other

Other5th International Conference on Human Aspects of Information Security, Privacy and Trust, HAS 2017, held as part of 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCI 2017
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityVancouver
Period7/9/177/14/17

Keywords

  • Information privacy
  • Mobile device
  • Security
  • Smartphone

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • Computer Science(all)

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