Poster Session 4, 2:15 PM - 3:00 PM: Concourse [B16]

What Your Phone Knows About You: A Digital Forensics Perspective on Mobile App Data Collection

Presenter: Oleksandr Lysyi

Faculty Sponsor: Enping Li

School: Bridgewater State University

Research Area: Cybersecurity

ABSTRACT

People increasingly rely on mobile apps for many aspects of their daily lives. Most users take it for granted that privacy policies are designed to protect their personal data. However, how these policies actually protect users and to what extent their data is collected and used often remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to conduct a forensic analysis of popular social media applications on both Android and iOS platforms. The goal is to gain a systematic understanding of the types of user data that are collected, the locations where such data are stored, and how the data are protected or secured. The methodology includes conducting a survey of digital device forensic studies, related research findings, and technical analyses focusing on social media applications such as Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and WhatsApp. The technical forensic analysis will focus on comparisons between Android and iOS platforms, the types of data collected, such as messages, geolocation, contact information, and search queries, as well as data retention after deletion and potential discrepancies between privacy policies and documented practices. Based on our research and forensic analysis, we aim to  gain a better understanding of whether applications collect more personal data than disclosed in their privacy policies, the comparative levels of data protection on Android and iOS, and the recoverability and retention duration of deleted data across different applications and platforms.

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