Privacy features in Touch (cyanogenmod)?

[Daniel Hollocher]

Hi Matthew,


> This is poor design. Of all the time you spend with an app, the moment
> you're about to install it is the moment when you know the least about
> it. So it's the moment when you're least able to make informed
> decisions about granting those privileges.
>
 ...

> On Ubuntu, an app will request a privilege during runtime.


What I see you saying is that by the time I've just begun to use the app, I
will have a better sense of what the app does, and therefor know what
privileges to grant.

But that isn't the case for me.  Once I've started the app, I'm still
trying to figure out what it does (even a simple game).  So I would just
allow all privileges given that I don't know how to make a better decision
and I at least want to make sure that the app works.  I think in general,
once I have decided to start installing an app, I've also decided that I
trust the app.

So, here is an alternative: before installation.  Have the needed
permissions displayed on the installation page, along side the ratings and
forum discussions and app description.  That way, if there is some
permission that doesn't make sense, I can go straight to the comments
section to see any discussion about it. (and make permissions something I
can search against, that way I can filter away unwanted permission takers).

The main point is that I don't think there is much difference between
asking when I am trying to install the app, and when I am trying to run the
app.

Dan

PS - I think there is a wider issue of incorrectly assuming that giving
users finer grained control over privacy will grant greater privacy.  For
some users, it has the opposite affect: it overwhelms them with difficult
questions, leading to "yes to all" types of behavior.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel-discuss/attachments/20130622/50d6fd14/attachment.html>