A Case Study of Intra-library Privacy Issues on Android GPS Navigation Apps
Stylianos Monogios, Konstantinos Limniotis, Nicholas Kolokotronis,, Stavros Shiaeles

TL;DR
This study investigates privacy risks in Android GPS navigation apps, revealing how they access and potentially leak personal data, including intra-library collusion issues that could be exploited without user consent.
Contribution
It provides an analysis of privacy vulnerabilities in GPS apps, highlighting intra-library collusion and data leakage risks in the Android ecosystem.
Findings
GPS apps access multiple device data types
Apps may leak personal data to third parties
Intra-library collusion can be exploited for data gathering
Abstract
The Android unrestricted application market, being of open source nature, has made it a popular platform for third-party applications reaching millions of smart devices in the world. This tremendous increase in applications with an extensive API that includes access to phone hardware, settings, and user data raises concerns regarding users privacy, as the information collected from the apps could be used for profiling purposes. In this respect, this paper focuses on the geolocation data and analyses five GPS applications to identify the privacy risks if no appropriate safeguards are present. Our results show that GPS navigation apps have access to several types of device data, while they may allow for personal data leakage towards third parties such as library providers or tracking services without providing adequate or precise information to the users. Moreover, as they are using…
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