ClipSecure: Addressing Privacy and Security Concerns in Android Clipboard

This paper investigates the privacy and security concerns surrounding the clipboard feature in Android devices. Since its inception, the Android clipboard has demonstrated a history of exploitation through lack of user knowledge and awareness coupled with poor design choices in an attempt to mitigate privacy issues. This paper first presents the results of a comprehensive study on Android users, revealing specific instances of clipboard exploitations and conducting a comparative analysis with other mobile Operating Systems. The study uncovers critical insights into the nature and extent of these exploits, laying the foundation for ClipSecure, an Android application designed to address these privacy concerns effectively. ClipSecure acts as a privacy preserving clipboard manager for the Android ecosystem and is compatible with over 90% of Android devices. Additional recommendations on preserving privacy within the Android system are also subsequently explored.