ETH Zurich : Computer Science : Pervasive Computing : Distributed Systems : Research : Privacy

Privacy-Aware Ubiquitous-Computing Systems

A Research Topic of the Distributed Systems Group

What lies at the intersection of privacy protection and ubiquitous computing is easy to imagine: the frightning vision of an Orwellian nightmare-come-true, where countless "smart" devices with detailed sensing and far-reaching communication capabilities will observe every single moment of our lives, so unobtrusive and invisible that we won't even notice! With daunting Orwellian visions looming, it is easy to conclude that tamper-proof technical protection mechanisms such as strong anonymization and encryption are the only solutions to such privacy threats. Obviously, the less data is collected, the fewer privacy invasions can occure. However, perfect protection for personal information will hardly be achievable, and the interconnectedness of our daily tasks will render many of the envisaged security schemes largely impractical in our everyday routines.

Instead, we propose to build systems that help others to respect our personal privacy, enable us to be aware of our own privacy, and to rely on social and legal norms to protect us from the few wrongdoers. We are developing a privacy awareness system targeted at ubiquitous computing environments that allows data collectors to both announce and implement data usage policies, as well as provide data subjects with technical means to keep track of their personal information as it is stored, used, and possibly removed from the system. Even though such a system cannot guarantee our privacy, we believe that it can create a sense of accountability in a world of invisible services that we will be comfortable living in and interacting with.

See also the following related items:

• UbiComp Implications (topic)

Participating Researchers

Iulia Ion (until 2012), Marc Langheinrich (until 2008), Michael Rohs (until 2005)

Selected Publications

See the Publications of the Distributed Systems Group page for a full listing of our publications.

• Iulia Ion, Niharika Sachdeva, Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Srdjan Capkun
  Home is Safer than the Cloud! Privacy Concerns for Consumer Cloud Storage.
  Proceedings of the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS 2011). Pittsburgh, PA, USA, July 2011
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• David H. Nguyen, Gabriela Marcu, Gillian R. Hayes, Khai N. Truong, James Scott, Marc Langheinrich, Christof Roduner
  Encountering SenseCam: Personal Recording Technologies in Everyday Life.
  Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2009), Orlando, FL, USA. ACM Press, pp. 165-174, New York, NY, USA, October 2009
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  A Survey of RFID Privacy Approaches.
  Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 413-421, August 2009
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Sarah Spiekermann, Marc Langheinrich (Eds.)
  An Update on Privacy in Ubiquitous Computing.
  Personal and Ubiquitous Computing (Special Issue), Vol. 13, No. 6, June 2009
  BibTeX
  
  
• David Wright, Serge Gutwirth, Michael Friedewald, Paul De Hert, Marc Langheinrich, Anna Moscibroda
  Privacy, Trust and Policy-Making: Challenges and Responses.
  Computer Law & Security Report, Vol. 25, No. 1, February 2009
  BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  RFID und die Zukunft der Privatsphäre.
  In: Alexander Rossnagel, Tom Sommerlatte, Udo Winand (Eds.): Digitale Visionen – Zur Gestaltung allgegenwärtiger Informationstechnologien. Springer, pp. 43-68, Berlin Heiderlberg New York, 2008
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich, Remo Marti
  Practical Minimalist Cryptography for RFID Privacy.
  IEEE Systems Journal, Special Issue on RFID Technology, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 115-128, December 2007
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich, Günter Karjoth
  Das "persönliche" Internet.
  digma - Zeitschrift für Datenrecht und Informationssicherheit, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 134-138, December 2007
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  RFID and Privacy.
  In: Milan Petkovic, Willem Jonker (Eds.): Security, Privacy, and Trust in Modern Data Management. Springer, ISBN 978-3-540-69860-9, pp. 433-450, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2007
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  Gibt es in einer total informatisierten Welt noch eine Privatsphäre?
  In: Friedemann Mattern (Ed.): Die Informatisierung des Alltags – Leben in smarten Umgebungen. Springer, pp. 233-264, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2007
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Vlad Coroama
  The Smart Tachograph – Individual Accounting of Traffic Costs and its Implications.
  Proceedings of Pervasive 2006. pp. 135-152, Dublin, Ireland, May 07-10, 2006
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Vlad Coroama, Marc Langheinrich
  Personalized Vehicle Insurance Rates – A Case for Client-Side Personalization in Ubiquitous Computing.
  Workshop on Privacy-Enhanced Personalization at CHI 2006. Montréal, Canada, April 22, 2006
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Christian Floerkemeier, Roland Schneider, Marc Langheinrich
  Scanning with a Purpose – Supporting the Fair Information Principles in RFID protocols.
  In: Hitomi Murakami, Hideyuki Nakashima, Hideyuki Tokuda, Michiaki Yasumura (Eds.): Ubiquitious Computing Systems. Revised Selected Papers from the 2nd International Symposium on Ubiquitous Computing Systems (UCS 2004), November 8-9, 2004, Tokyo, Japan. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 3598, Springer-Verlag, ISBN 3-540-27893-1, pp. 214-231, Berlin, Germany, June 2005
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  Personal Privacy in Ubiquitous Computing – Tools and System Support.
  PhD thesis No. 16100, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, May 2005
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf), Talk (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  Die Privatsphäre im Ubiquitous Computing – Datenschutzaspekte der RFID-Technologie.
  In: Elgar Fleisch, Friedemann Mattern (Eds.): Das Internet der Dinge – Ubiquitous Computing und RFID in der Praxis. Springer-Verlag, pp. 329-362, 2005
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Jürgen Bohn, Vlad Coroama, Marc Langheinrich, Friedemann Mattern, Michael Rohs
  Living in a World of Smart Everyday Objects – Social, Economic, and Ethical Implications.
  Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 763-785, October 2004
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  A Privacy Awareness System for Ubiquitous Computing Environments.
  In: Gaetano Borriello, Lars Erik Holmquist (Eds.): 4th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp 2002). LNCS No. 2498, Springer-Verlag, pp. 237-245, September 2002
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich, Friedemann Mattern
  Wenn der Computer verschwindet: Was Datenschutz und Sicherheit in einer Welt intelligenter Alltagsdinge bedeuten.
  digma – Zeitschrift für Datenrecht und Informationssicherheit, Schulthess Verlag, 2. Jahrgang, Heft 3, pp. 138-142, September 2002
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Friedemann Mattern, Marc Langheinrich
  Allgegenwärtigkeit des Computers – Datenschutz in einer Welt intelligenter Alltagsdinge.
  In: G. Müller, M. Reichenbach (Eds.): Sicherheitskonzepte für das Internet, Springer-Verlag. pp. 7-26, 2001
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  
• Marc Langheinrich
  Privacy by Design – Principles of Privacy-Aware Ubiquitous Systems.
  In: Gregory D. Abowd, Barry Brumitt, Steven A. Shafer (Eds.): Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp 2001). LNCS No. 2201, Springer-Verlag, pp. 273-291, Atlanta, USA, 2001
  Abstract, BibTeX, Paper (.pdf)
  
  

Related Student Projects

The following table lists corresponding student projects in our group. Note that some descriptions will be in German.