For Mobile Users, Positive Safety Messages More Effective Than Security Warnings
Ratings of the security risks associated with smartphone apps affect users' decisions whether to install those apps, but information about the safety of an app is more effective than information about its risks, according to researchers from Purdue University.
The report, "Effective Risk Communication for Android Apps," was published in an issue of IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing. The researchers examined the effects of including information about app permissions on users' decisions to install apps. They tested the effectiveness of including summary risk information and tested various methods of conveying that information to determine which approach was most effective.