An analysis of privacy regulations and user concerns of finance mobile applications

IF 3.8 2区计算机科学 Q2 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Information and Software Technology Pub Date : 2025-04-29 DOI:10.1016/j.infsof.2025.107756

Omar Haggag , Alessandro Pedace , Shidong Pan , John Grundy

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Context:

Financial applications handle sensitive data, including personal details, banking information, and transaction histories, making them prime targets for cyber-attacks. As privacy concerns grow, users and regulators are increasingly analyzing how these apps manage data in different legal contexts.

Objective:

This study examines user privacy concerns and assesses the impact of privacy regulations on mobile financial applications in Germany, Australia, and the United States. It aims to evaluate how laws such as the GDPR in the EU, the Privacy Act in Australia, and various U.S. state and federal laws shape app privacy policies. Additionally, the study explores the readability and accessibility of privacy policies.

Methods:

User reviews from app stores were analyzed to identify recurring privacy issues and regional differences in concerns. The study also reviewed privacy laws in the EU, Australia, and the U.S. to assess their influence on financial app policies. To analyze the user-friendliness of privacy documents, a readability analysis was conducted using the Flesch Reading Ease score and estimated reading times.

Results:

The findings revealed that users are highly concerned about the handling of their data, with significant demand for greater transparency and more robust privacy protections. Regional differences in privacy concerns were identified, with varying levels of engagement with privacy issues in each region. The study also found significant discrepancies in the readability of privacy policies, with many policies proving too complex for the average user to understand.

Conclusion:

The study concludes that financial app developers need to simplify their privacy policies and improve transparency to build user trust. It also emphasizes the need for stronger regulatory frameworks to address evolving privacy challenges. Recommendations are made for developers and policymakers to enhance data protection and improve user experience in financial services.

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金融移动应用的隐私法规与用户关注点分析

背景：金融应用程序处理敏感数据，包括个人详细信息、银行信息和交易历史，使其成为网络攻击的主要目标。随着隐私问题的加剧，用户和监管机构越来越多地分析这些应用程序如何在不同的法律背景下管理数据。目的：本研究考察了德国、澳大利亚和美国的用户隐私问题，并评估了隐私法规对移动金融应用程序的影响。它旨在评估欧盟的《通用数据保护条例》（GDPR）、澳大利亚的《隐私法》（Privacy Act）以及美国各种州和联邦法律如何影响应用程序隐私政策。此外，本研究还探讨了隐私政策的可读性和可访问性。方法：分析来自应用商店的用户评论，以确定反复出现的隐私问题和关注的地区差异。该研究还审查了欧盟、澳大利亚和美国的隐私法，以评估它们对金融应用程序政策的影响。为了分析隐私文档的用户友好性，使用Flesch Reading Ease评分和估计阅读时间进行可读性分析。结果：调查结果显示，用户高度关注他们的数据处理，对更大的透明度和更强大的隐私保护有很大的需求。确定了隐私问题的地区差异，每个地区对隐私问题的参与程度不同。该研究还发现，隐私政策的可读性存在显著差异，许多政策过于复杂，普通用户无法理解。结论：该研究得出结论，金融应用开发商需要简化其隐私政策，提高透明度，以建立用户信任。它还强调需要更强有力的监管框架来应对不断变化的隐私挑战。为开发人员和政策制定者提出了加强数据保护和改善金融服务用户体验的建议。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information and Software Technology 工程技术-计算机：软件工程

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

7.70%

发文量

164

审稿时长

9.6 weeks

期刊介绍： Information and Software Technology is the international archival journal focusing on research and experience that contributes to the improvement of software development practices. The journal''s scope includes methods and techniques to better engineer software and manage its development. Articles submitted for review should have a clear component of software engineering or address ways to improve the engineering and management of software development. Areas covered by the journal include: • Software management, quality and metrics, • Software processes, • Software architecture, modelling, specification, design and programming • Functional and non-functional software requirements • Software testing and verification & validation • Empirical studies of all aspects of engineering and managing software development Short Communications is a new section dedicated to short papers addressing new ideas, controversial opinions, "Negative" results and much more. Read the Guide for authors for more information. The journal encourages and welcomes submissions of systematic literature studies (reviews and maps) within the scope of the journal. Information and Software Technology is the premiere outlet for systematic literature studies in software engineering.