How to Ask for Permission

Application platforms provide applications with access to hardware (e.g., GPS and cameras) and personal data. Modern platforms use permission systems to protect access to these resources. The nature of these permission systems vary widely across platforms. Some platforms obtain user consent as part of installation, while others display runtime consent dialogs. We propose a set of guidelines to aid platform designers in determining the most appropriate permission-granting mechanism for a given permission. We apply our proposal to a smartphone platform. A preliminary evaluation indicates that our model will reduce the number of warnings presented to users, thereby reducing habituation effects.