Ubiquitous Privacy Protection

Abstract : The main message of this position paper is that ubiquitous computing technology need not necessarily be an obstacle to privacy protection: if legal and social issues are given proper consideration, technology can also be used to allow individuals to exercise their rights. We believe that the key issue is to devise techniques able to support ambitious privacy protection policies while allowing for the flexibility required in the ambient intelligence context. We illustrate our position using three technical requirements: (1) formal specification of privacy policies, (2) trust management and (3) auditability, which show both the challenges posed by ubiquitous computing and the opportunities to strengthen privacy. For each of these requirements, we present the legal and social motivations, suggest technical challenges and provide hints on possible solutions based on our on-going work.