Investigating privacy concerns related to mobile augmented reality Apps – A vignette based online experiment

• Published in: Computers in human behavior 2021-09, Vol.122, p.106833, Article 106833
• Main Authors: Harborth, David, Pape, Sebastian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: App permissions; App transparency; Applications programs; Augmented reality; Computer & video games; Context; Experiments; Interior design; Mobile augmented reality; Pervasive systems; Privacy; Regulatory agencies; Smartphones; Vignette-based experiment
• ISSN: 0747-5632; 1873-7692
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2021.106833

Augmented reality (AR) gained much public attention after the success of Pokémon Go in 2016, and has found application in online games, social media, interior design, and other services since then. AR is highly dependent on various different sensors gathering real time context-specific personal information about the users causing more severe and new privacy threats compared to other technologies. These threats have to be investigated as long as AR is still shapeable in order to ensure users’ privacy and foster market adoption of privacy-friendly AR systems. To provide viable recommendations regarding the design of privacy-friendly AR systems, we follow a user-centric approach and investigate the role and causes of privacy concerns within the context of mobile AR (MAR) apps. We design a vignette-based online experiment adapting ideas from the framework of contextual integrity to analyze drivers of privacy concerns related to MAR apps, such as characteristics of permissions, trust-evoking signals, and AR-related contextual factors. The results of the large-scale experiment with 1,100 participants indicate that privacy concerns are mainly determined by the sensitivity of app permissions (i.e., whether sensitive resources on the smartphone are accessed) and the number of prior app downloads. Furthermore, we devise detailed practical and theoretical implications for developers, regulatory authorities and future research. •Vignette-based online experiment with 1,100 smartphone users.•Analysis of contextual factors driving privacy concerns of augmented reality apps.•Integration of contextual factors into a known privacy-related research model.•Privacy concerns driven by permission sensitivity, trust and general privacy concerns.•Privacy calculus with privacy concerns and usefulness explain download intentions.