Stuck in the Permissions With You: Developer & End-User Perspectives on App Permissions & Their Privacy Ramifications

Understand

While the literature on permissions from the end-user perspective is rich, there is a lack of empirical research on why developers request permissions, their conceptualization of permissions, and how their perspectives compare with end-users' perspectives.

• Our study aims to address these gaps using a mixed-methods approach.
• Through interviews with 19 app developers and a survey of 309 Android and iOS end-users, we found that both groups shared similar concerns about unnecessary permissions breaking trust, damaging the app's reputation, and potentially allowing access to sensitive data.
• We also found that developer participants sometimes requested multiple permissions due to confusion about the scope of certain permissions or third-party library requirements.