The relationship between the smartphone user and the permission requests by applications to access the user space on the smartphone is discussed in this paper. These permission requests may include a developer-specified explanation (referred to as a purpose string). The authors surveyed over 4,000 applications and concluded that less than 20 percent included a purpose string. At the same time, a survey of smartphone users concluded that the user is likely to approve the allowance by the application if the purpose string is presented in the permission box.

The paper is easy to read and the authors’ intent is easy to comprehend. The authors estimate the smartphone user community to be one billion at the time of publication, and predict the 2015 population of smartphone users will double to two billion. Indeed, the study includes a set of sample cases using mock-up permission dialogs, some with various purpose strings for the study sample to accept or reject, and some without a purpose string. When purpose strings were used, acceptance rates rose by 12 percent regardless of the relevance of the purpose string.

The authors conclude that developer-created purpose strings would benefit the user community if more developers used them. This may be true, but an educated and enlightened user should accept a permission request if and only if the user is convinced the application is from a trusted source and there is a need for it.

The generation engaged in social networks and the latest neat applications will likely accept the permission request with or without thought. This is borne out in the paper. The authors reinforce this position, as they state:

Since we controlled for the apps participants viewed (comparing popular apps with the same popular apps, and an unknown app with the same unknown app), future work is needed to examine how the trustworthiness of an app influences a participant’s willingness to grant permission requests.

We can look forward to a future study and can expect some interesting conclusions from the authors.