REPOSITORY > RESULTS

Abstract

This dissertation presents the results of a study of the availability of security provisions
in the smartphones most frequently used to access the Internet in communities from
different parts of the world. These areas differ in terms of their level of development and
the degree of mobile-phone market control and state-enforced regulations. The level of
development of mobile services was investigated. The most popular mobile phone devices
in use were identified and then tested. The user skills levels and their assessment of the
privacy and security risks they incur during use of smartphone were investigated.
The results of this extensive study are presented. The results profile user attitudes to
mobile-phone network services, their level of awareness of threats to privacy, the
opportunities for self-protection and their trust with respect to major players in the
mobile network. The survey data collected from the user communities was analysed and
the dependencies between the level of the mobile market development, the country’s
wealth, the affordability of the technology, the level of user skills and the understanding
of privacy threats, and the expressed concerns regarding Internet-content blocking and
traffic monitoring, in addition to the level of trust with respect to major players on the
mobile-network market, are evaluated and discussed.
The technical testing confirmed that not every identified threat can be overcome since
some smartphone systems do not contain secure technology for personal data protection.
The influence of parameters such as the country wealth, the state religion and
availability of high technology on user attitudes were explored and discussed. The
answers confirmed the need for improved user understanding of the safety and security
challenges in order to become more capable to manage the protection of their privacy.
The user level of trust towards different actors on the mobile markets was found to differ
depending on the country wealth and the market level development.
The countries were selected because of their developed mobile market combined with
a reputation for insufficiently democratic governments. The studied sample has some
limitation due to the restriction imposed by some governments regarding carrying user
surveys.
This dissertation fulfils an identified need to study privacy and security risks in
mobile usage in countries which have poor records in human rights and were not so far
subject of a study in the existing literature. It confirms the challenges faced by users to
understand their privacy and the possibilities to act for better personal protection.
Key words: Smartphone security, Traffic filtering and Internet-content blocking,
Mobile communication networks, User privacy and Self protection