User Activation
Full Title or Meme
For the purposes of this wiki a User Activation is any positive, physical user action at the mobile device that can be interpreted as acceptance.
Context
User activation and user gesture are two different ways of interacting with a smartphone. User activation is when the user interacts with the device by tapping on the screen or pressing a button. User gesture is when the user interacts with the device by using gestures such as swiping, pinching, or zooming. User gestures are often used for navigation and can be more intuitive than user activation. For example, on some Android devices, you can use a gesture to go back to the previous screen instead of pressing the back button. On Samsung Galaxy phones, you can use finger sensor gestures to open or close the notification panel by swiping up or down on the fingerprint sensor.
Problems
- It will always be possible for the app on the mobile device to mislead the user into acceptance of a condition which is mislabeled.
- For a User Activation to have the intended meaning it will be necessary for the app to be validated as to its User Experience.
Solutions
- In general a trust User Activation would eventually result in a signed attestation from the app as to the user's intent.
- See the Kantara Mobile Authentication Assurance Statement (MAAS) for an example.
