No, I Can’t Be a Security Personnel on Your Phone": Security and Privacy Threats From Sharing Infrastructure in Rural Ghana

Abstract

We examine how rural communities in Ghana adopt workarounds to access electricity and mobile networks and the impact of these workarounds on their digital security and privacy. Through 41 field interviews, we find that participants largely rely on intermediaries to charge their mobile devices and to perform activities that require a stable mobile network. These practices often result in concerns over device loss, unauthorized access of personal information, and eavesdropping. In response, participants adopt protective measures, such as using screen and app locks when handing their devices to intermediaries. Others speak in local languages to ‘encrypt’ verbal communication when sharing the same ‘network zone’ with others. Though economically prudent, the reliance on intermediaries introduces social friction where participants suppress their concerns to preserve social relations and continual support. We conclude with recommendations on how various stakeholders, including practitioners and researchers, can work toward improving the security and privacy of users in resource-constrained settings, e.g., by rethinking access control for community-level device and network sharing.