Title :
Privacy and pervasive computing: threats and challenges
Speaker :
University of Tor Vergata, Italy
Prof. Giuseppe Bianchi
Time & Place :
October 11th, 2006 h.10:00-11:30 am
Auditorium, Building 132, Seoul National University
Abstract :
The deployment of highly pervasive services, the introduction of efficient surveillance systems, and the increasing usage of biometric technologies poses severe challenges to the privacy of the user and their “right to be forgotten”: once personal data are spread in the information systems, they are permanently away from the control of the end-user, and only regulation provides the user with the trust that their data will be used in the “proper” manner. In such a context, some fundamental open questions arise: Is pervasive technology forcing users to waive their privacy rights? And how much of our privacy can be traded for security and/or new service opportunities?
Anonymity and uncontrolled access is, of course, not a proper approach, as it would be immediate, for intruders and malicious users, to abuse of such strong data protection measures for inappropriate (or even criminal) purposes. On the other side, total delegation and control exerted by operators and service providers, although important to prevent abuses and guarantee an improved safety for the citizens, can become a threat when the operators themselves (or their employers) make an improper usage of the personal data gathered while providing services. A dichotomy seems to emerge, in which systems designers force their users to sacrifice some part of a fundamental right – their privacy – in order to gain some utility – the use of advanced pervasive applications and an improved security level for the citizens. In this talk, we argue that this is a false dichotomy, and that innovative privacy enhancement technologies and solutions may provide an answer. Our belief is that ICT technology can play a crucial role in pushing forward the growth and spreading of new pervasive technologies, if it technically addresses privacy issues. In other words, if ICT services were designed with the goal of technically complementing regulation for what concerns privacy, and if the conformance to such technical standards was clearly certified for technical solutions, then the citizens would no longer be forced to rely on their trust in regulation. Instead, users would know that their privacy is protected by the service design itself, this resulting in a much higher acceptance and exploitation of innovative ICT applications.
After reviewing the basic issues and privacy threats emerging in pervasive environments, the talk will outline some research directions and some possible approaches devised to simultaneously provide privacy and controllability. Although the talk is primarily intended for a non technical audience, some technical ideas (e.g. pseudonym assignment approaches) will be presented in a simplified and understandable manner for non experts, as examples of concrete solutions devised to break the above mentioned dichotomy.
Bio :
Giuseppe Bianchi became full professor in Telecommunication engineering in April 2006. Formerly, he has been Assistant professor at the Politechnic of Milan from 1993 to 1998, and Associate professor from 1998 to 2006, first in the University of Palermo (1998-2003) and then with the School of Engineering of the University of Tor Vergata.
He spent 1992 as visiting researcher at the Washington University of St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and 1997 as visiting professor at the Columbia University of New York. His research activity (documented in more than 100 papers in peer-refereed international journals and conferences) spans several areas, among which: WLAN 802.11 networks, design and performance evaluation of broadband networks; multiple access and mobility management in wireless local area networks; Quality of Service support in IP; adaptive QoS support; multimedia information retrieval services; programmable networks. He has been co-organizer of the first ACM workshop on Wireless Mobile Internet (WMI 2001), for the first ACM workshop on Wireless Mobile Applications over WLAN Hot-spot (WMASH 2003), and for the third IEEE international workshop on Multiservice IP networks (QoS-IP 2005). He has been general chair for the second ACM workshop on Wireless Mobile Applications over WLAN Hot-spot (WMASH 2004). Giuseppe Bianchi has exiensively participated and coordinated national and European research projects. Specifically, he has been national responsible and contact point within the European project ITEA-POLLENS, Italian responsible for the research unit Palermo of a subcontract within the European project IST-SUITED, and scientific coordinator for the research unit Palermo within the national projects PRIN-RAMON; FIRB-TANGO, FIRBPRIMO and FIRB-VICOM. Giuseppe Bianchi has been further involved, as research collaborator, in several international and national research projects, including the IST projects FIFTH, ICEBERGS and SIMPLICITY, and the ITEA project RTIPA. He is currently national coordinator for the Italian project PRIN-TWELVE (dealing with service differentiation in 802.11 networks), and European coordinator for the IST project DISCREET (dealing with privacy in pervasive environments).