A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps

Stylianos Monogios; Konstantinos Limniotis; Nicholas Kolokotronis; Stavros Shiaeles

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3

A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps

Stylianos Monogios, Konstantinos Limniotis^*, Nicholas Kolokotronis, Stavros Shiaeles

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Computing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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Abstract

The Android unrestricted application market, being of open source nature, has made it a popular platform for third-party applications reaching millions of smart devices in the world. This tremendous increase in applications with an extensive API that includes access to phone hardware, settings, and user data raises concerns regarding users privacy, as the information collected from the apps could be used for profiling purposes. In this respect, this paper focuses on the geolocation data and analyses five GPS applications to identify the privacy risks if no appropriate safeguards are present. Our results show that GPS navigation apps have access to several types of device data, while they may allow for personal data leakage towards third parties such as library providers or tracking services without providing adequate or precise information to the users. Moreover, as they are using third-party libraries, they suffer from the intra-library collusion issue, that could be exploited from advertising and analytics companies through apps and gather large amount of personal information without the explicit consent of the user.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age
Subtitle of host publication	8th International Conference, e-Democracy 2019, Athens, Greece, December 12-13, 2019, Proceedings
Editors	Sokratis Katsikas, Vasilios Zorkadis
Publisher	Springer
Pages	34-48
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-030-37545-4
ISBN (Print)	978-3-030-37544-7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3
Publication status	Published - Jan 2020
Event	e-Democracy: International Conference on e-Democracy - Athens, Greece Duration: 12 Dec 2019 → 13 Dec 2019 Conference number: 8 https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4

Publication series

Name	Communications in Computer and Information Science
Publisher	Springer
Volume	1111
ISSN (Print)	1865-0929
ISSN (Electronic)	1865-0937

Conference

Conference	e-Democracy
Country/Territory	Greece
City	Athens
Period	12/12/19 → 13/12/19
Internet address	https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3

A Case Study of Intra-Library Privacy Issues
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Communications in Computer and Information Science. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3.
Accepted author manuscript (Post-print), 677 KB

Cite this

Monogios, S., Limniotis, K., Kolokotronis, N., & Shiaeles, S. (2020). A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps. In S. Katsikas, & V. Zorkadis (Eds.), E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age: 8th International Conference, e-Democracy 2019, Athens, Greece, December 12-13, 2019, Proceedings (pp. 34-48). (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 1111). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3

Monogios, Stylianos ; Limniotis, Konstantinos ; Kolokotronis, Nicholas et al. / A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps. E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age: 8th International Conference, e-Democracy 2019, Athens, Greece, December 12-13, 2019, Proceedings. editor / Sokratis Katsikas ; Vasilios Zorkadis. Springer, 2020. pp. 34-48 (Communications in Computer and Information Science).

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title = "A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps",

abstract = "The Android unrestricted application market, being of open source nature, has made it a popular platform for third-party applications reaching millions of smart devices in the world. This tremendous increase in applications with an extensive API that includes access to phone hardware, settings, and user data raises concerns regarding users privacy, as the information collected from the apps could be used for profiling purposes. In this respect, this paper focuses on the geolocation data and analyses five GPS applications to identify the privacy risks if no appropriate safeguards are present. Our results show that GPS navigation apps have access to several types of device data, while they may allow for personal data leakage towards third parties such as library providers or tracking services without providing adequate or precise information to the users. Moreover, as they are using third-party libraries, they suffer from the intra-library collusion issue, that could be exploited from advertising and analytics companies through apps and gather large amount of personal information without the explicit consent of the user.",

author = "Stylianos Monogios and Konstantinos Limniotis and Nicholas Kolokotronis and Stavros Shiaeles",

year = "2020",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3",

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editor = "Sokratis Katsikas and Vasilios Zorkadis",

booktitle = "E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age",

note = "e-Democracy : International Conference on e-Democracy ; Conference date: 12-12-2019 Through 13-12-2019",

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Monogios, S, Limniotis, K, Kolokotronis, N & Shiaeles, S 2020, A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps. in S Katsikas & V Zorkadis (eds), E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age: 8th International Conference, e-Democracy 2019, Athens, Greece, December 12-13, 2019, Proceedings. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol. 1111, Springer, pp. 34-48, e-Democracy, Athens, Greece, 12/12/19. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3

A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps. / Monogios, Stylianos; Limniotis, Konstantinos; Kolokotronis, Nicholas et al.
E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age: 8th International Conference, e-Democracy 2019, Athens, Greece, December 12-13, 2019, Proceedings. ed. / Sokratis Katsikas; Vasilios Zorkadis. Springer, 2020. p. 34-48 (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 1111).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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T1 - A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps

AU - Monogios, Stylianos

AU - Limniotis, Konstantinos

AU - Kolokotronis, Nicholas

AU - Shiaeles, Stavros

N1 - Conference code: 8

PY - 2020/1

Y1 - 2020/1

N2 - The Android unrestricted application market, being of open source nature, has made it a popular platform for third-party applications reaching millions of smart devices in the world. This tremendous increase in applications with an extensive API that includes access to phone hardware, settings, and user data raises concerns regarding users privacy, as the information collected from the apps could be used for profiling purposes. In this respect, this paper focuses on the geolocation data and analyses five GPS applications to identify the privacy risks if no appropriate safeguards are present. Our results show that GPS navigation apps have access to several types of device data, while they may allow for personal data leakage towards third parties such as library providers or tracking services without providing adequate or precise information to the users. Moreover, as they are using third-party libraries, they suffer from the intra-library collusion issue, that could be exploited from advertising and analytics companies through apps and gather large amount of personal information without the explicit consent of the user.

AB - The Android unrestricted application market, being of open source nature, has made it a popular platform for third-party applications reaching millions of smart devices in the world. This tremendous increase in applications with an extensive API that includes access to phone hardware, settings, and user data raises concerns regarding users privacy, as the information collected from the apps could be used for profiling purposes. In this respect, this paper focuses on the geolocation data and analyses five GPS applications to identify the privacy risks if no appropriate safeguards are present. Our results show that GPS navigation apps have access to several types of device data, while they may allow for personal data leakage towards third parties such as library providers or tracking services without providing adequate or precise information to the users. Moreover, as they are using third-party libraries, they suffer from the intra-library collusion issue, that could be exploited from advertising and analytics companies through apps and gather large amount of personal information without the explicit consent of the user.

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BT - E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age

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Monogios S, Limniotis K, Kolokotronis N, Shiaeles S. A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps. In Katsikas S, Zorkadis V, editors, E-Democracy – Safeguarding Democracy and Human Rights in the Digital Age: 8th International Conference, e-Democracy 2019, Athens, Greece, December 12-13, 2019, Proceedings. Springer. 2020. p. 34-48. (Communications in Computer and Information Science). Epub 2019 Dec 10. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-37545-4_3

A case study of intra-library privacy issues on Android GPS navigation apps

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