It is far too much work to adjust the privacy options on each and every app we have installed on our mobile devices. The majority of users simply accept the permissions that pop-up after they install an app without taking a moment to think of why they may need them. Later, they don’t even worry about what these downloaded programs do with the access.
Investigators at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an intelligent system that is capable of controlling privacy options without trying. The goal is to manage preferences automatically, benefitting the users who share certain information with social media, games or instant messaging services.
The objective is to manage user privacy options automatically.
These experts have revealed that said preferences could pin-point a reduced number of “profiles” that are based on the willingness of users to grant different types of permissions to the Apps depending on the data they want or do not want to share.
After users fill out a questionnaire about the apps they use, the privacy assistant can determine what primary group the user belongs to after thanks to Machine Learning algorithms and response analysis. After, the app’s job is to adjust the privacy options on all of the programs that follow those established patterns.
Additionally, Carnegie Mellon’s system advises the user when the application use their location or other relevant data. This information will increase user awareness of their privacy adjustments and they will feel more comfortable knowing that their apps do not access more information than they should.
Users feel more comfortable knowing that permissions on their device are well managed.
The application will be available on Google Play at the end of summer. At the moment, this application assistant will only work with rooted Android devices and we will have to wait a little longer for it to be available for the rest of smartphones and operating systems.
Panda Security specializes in the development of endpoint security products and is part of the WatchGuard portfolio of IT security solutions. Initially focused on the development of antivirus software, the company has since expanded its line of business to advanced cyber-security services with technology for preventing cyber-crime.
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Love the idea that our human privacy is back in human hands. Far too much is lost and perverted by “machine operated ” technology. When will human beings be allowed to own their own personal information. It is dangerous for all of our information to be ” public access” . This information is being misused and abused under the guise of “helping us” . This controlling misuse of machines, for want of a better word is destroying much that we hold dear to ourselves and our children. It is almost impossible to maintain a sense of sacred space and wholeness. We are being broken by the things that are there to serve us. Machines don’t have the right to think. We have. We have been warned about the problem of handing over our control of such things before. No one has the right to know absolutely EVERYTHING about us. Are we being protected or harmed. Where is the trust in the basic goodness of people?Knowing something special about someone is a privilege that they give you. It must come from themselves. If this is thwarted by people driven machines or people themselves the consequences are far reaching and detrimental to civilisation as we know it. My prayer goes out to anyone harmed by these forces that seek to destroy all that is good wholesome, honest, beautiful, kind, merciful, blessed, righteous and loved.