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X-Ray Refine
Supporting the Exploration and Refinement of Information Exposure Resulting from Smartphone Apps
Most smartphone apps collect and share information with various first and third parties; yet, such data collection practices remain largely unbeknownst to, and outside the control of, end-users.
In this paper, we seek to understand the potential for tools to help people refine their exposure to third parties, resulting from their app usage. We designed an interactive, focus-plus-context display called X-Ray Refine (Refine) that uses models of over 1 million Android apps to visualise a person’s exposure profile based on their durations of app use. To support exploration of mitigation strategies, Refine can simulate actions such as app usage reduction, removal, and substitution.
A lab study of Refine found participants achieved a high-level understanding of their exposure, and identified data collection behaviours that violated both their expectations and privacy preferences. Participants also devised bespoke strategies to achieve privacy goals, identifying the key barriers to achieving them.