  Mobile privacy and security can be a collaborative process where individuals
seek advice and help from their trusted communities. To support such collective
privacy and security management, we developed a mobile app for Community
Oversight of Privacy and Security ("CO-oPS") that allows community members to
review one another's apps installed and permissions granted to provide
feedback. We conducted a four-week-long field study with 22 communities (101
participants) of friends, families, or co-workers who installed the CO-oPS app
on their phones. Measures of transparency, trust, and awareness of one
another's mobile privacy and security behaviors, along with individual and
community participation in mobile privacy and security co-management, increased
from pre- to post-study. Interview findings confirmed that the app features
supported collective considerations of apps and permissions. However,
participants expressed a range of concerns regarding having community members
with different levels of technical expertise and knowledge regarding mobile
privacy and security that can impact motivation to participate and perform
oversight. Our study demonstrates the potential and challenges of community
oversight mechanisms to support communities to co-manage mobile privacy and
security.
