Yes, your Android phone is a first-class nosy – CNET in Spanish

The permissions have been improved Marshmallow, but this software is less than 1 percent of all Android phones.

Screenshot Sarah Mitroff / CNET

Where are you now? Can I see the list of all the people you know? Can I review your photos?

Questions like these are an impertinence, regardless of who come, including your smart phone. For this reason, it is no surprise that people who use Android, Google software for smartphone , you would say “no” to requests for permission to your device makes them more frequently. This according to a study presented Thursday at a conference on privacy of the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC

However, it should make a clarification, says one of the study authors, Serge Egelman. People are already overwhelmed by the number of permits and security policies accepted in their devices and the Internet. So, instead of unleashing a plague of messages to jump on the screens of their phones constantly, researchers believe that a solution to facilitate the process would refine the privacy settings in one stroke.

The issue highlights how exhausting it is we handle our privacy, and not to mention decide what we want to leave our phones. Echoed the criticism they have received other companies that have faced similar problems with their respective privacy devices is also done.

All or nothing

Do you remember Windows Vista? Microsoft’s operating system for PCs, released in 2007, received criticism from all sides by asking for permission to run the most basic functions too often. Apple took the opportunity, and created a business in which he mocked Vista, characterizing it as a security guard too suspicious.

As far as Android phones, people have had to deal with a policy of “all or nothing”. They had to accept all the permissions to download an application, or otherwise simply could not download it. Google is addressing the concerns of Egelman and others Marshmallow with its Android operating system, which allows the user to approve certain more specific permits before installing an app. Marshmallow was released in October, but so far only been installed in less than one percent of all Android phones, according to Google.

So, if you want the application to torch may have access to your camera, so you can control the LED flash but do not have access to your contacts, you might be able to do something about it when it finally Marshmallow can install on your device.

Egelman said that so far the people rather has resigned and accustomed to accept permissions, so you can use the apps. But the study, by the Universities of British Columbia and California in Berkeley, showed that 80 percent of people would have said “no” to at least one permit application, to have had the opportunity. Moreover, the average participant in the study wanted to say “no” to almost a third of the permits demanded her phone to run apps

Egelman said the big question is. ” how to give consumers control over things that really matter without overwhelming? ” The researcher suggested to know the basics of the concerns of the people, and then simplify permits consistent with those concerns would be the best solution.

Other researchers echoed that stance were made throughout the day-long conference. Show people less information about security permissions but adapt such permits according to their preferences could make more willing to think about the amount of personal information that is tracking your phone.

Other ideas to facilitate processing of permits included security graphic look nutrition labels so that people can have a glimpse of an idea of ​​what constitutes permission, instead of having to read security policies full of legal terms that trigger migraine. Others suggested more automated adjustments based on general preferences of the person.

Google did not respond to a request for comment on the issue.

Egelman summed up the dilemma noting that “power choice is wonderful, “but” the ability to pay attention is a limited resource. “

Updates made on January 14, 8:52 pm PT, and January 15, 4:40 a.m. PT: have clarified the report’s findings and the status of Marshmallow

.