EAGER: Usable Location Privacy in Geo-Social Networks

该项目专注于一项潜在的变革性研究，涉及同时调查基于位置的地理社交应用的可用性和安全/隐私技术，目的是研究移动设备上保护隐私和安全的位置感知地理社交网络平台的可用性、可行性和可扩展性。这种方法基于这样一种信念，即可用性和安全性/隐私从一开始就得到了适当和最有效的解决。特别是，该项目将研究隐私敏捷安全的基于位置的通信的可用性以及相关的支持协议，这些协议可扩展到大量用户，并适应适用于不同应用领域的各种隐私级别。通过研究位置感知协议的可用性，研究人员提出了在不同网络技术上提供无缝连接和功能而不牺牲用户体验的方法。调查人员还计划解决隐私保护行动中的其他安全问题，包括身份验证、访问控制和问责。该项目设想了具有三个统一因素的广泛的未来应用：(1)地理-社会底色，即结合社会群体和当地的应用，(2)缺乏或希望避免使用固定的基础设施，以及(3)安全和隐私需求。尽管在支持这类应用的技术上取得了进展，但在研究用户对其基于位置的小型设备应用程序的隐私和安全性方面的可用性因素方面所做的工作非常少。因此，拟议的项目有一个雄心勃勃的目标：研究保护隐私的地理社会技术的可用性，包括用户模型、感知、界面和可行的通信/计算技术，以支持上述环境下便携式移动设备上的未来地理社会应用。所采用的方法可能包括访谈、焦点小组和认知演练。S认为，该方法的一个关键特征是研究如何将位置与身份屏蔽，从而在保护用户隐私的同时，允许基于位置的服务和地理社交应用，最重要的是，以对用户最有用、最有效的方式做到这一点。使用位置和小型设备的技术正在快速增长，而考虑安全以及位置和身份隐私的技术才刚刚被解决。因此，保护位置敏感隐私问题的可用系统可能会对社会产生重大影响。在该项目中开发的工具将能够为位置感知的地理社交网络开发重要的、经济上有益的技术，保护使用这种服务的个人的隐私权。此外，这个项目的一个重要部分涉及研究生参与研究。因此，该项目有可能为培养下一代信息技术研究人员带来更多的研究机会。同样，它还包括一个重要的教育组成部分。

This project is focused on a potentially transformational research study involving the simultaneous investigation of usability and security/privacy technologies for location-based geo-social applications, with the objective of studying the usability, feasibility, and scalability of privacy-preserving and secure location-aware geo-social networking platforms for mobile devices. The approach is based on a belief that usability and security/privacy are addressed properly and most effectively from the start. In particular, the project will study the usability of privacy-agile secure location-based communication and associated supporting protocols that scale to large numbers of users and accommodate various privacy levels suitable for different application domains. By studying the usability of location-aware protocols, the investigators propose methods that provide seamless connectivity and functionality over different networking technologies, without sacrificing the user experience. The investigators also plan to address other security issues in privacy-preserving operation, including authentication, access control and accountability. This project envisions a wide range of future applications with three unifying factors: (1) a geo-social undertone, i.e., applications that combine social groups and locality, (2) lack of, or desire to avoid using, fixed infrastructure facilities, and (3) need for both security and privacy. Although progress is starting on technologies for supporting such applications, there has been precious little work done on the study of usability factors with respect to the privacy and security users expect with their small-device location-based applications. The proposed project therefore has an ambitious goal: to study the usability of privacy-preserving geo-social technologies, including the user models, perceptions, interfaces, and feasible communication/computation technologies for supporting futuristic geo-social applications on portable mobile devices in the aforementioned setting. Methods employed may include interviews, focus groups, and cognitive walkthroughs. One key feature of the approach is to study methods that shield location from identity, thereby allowing for location-based services and geo-social applications while also protecting user privacy, and, most importantly, to do so in a way that is most usable and effective from the user?s point of view.Technologies using location and small devices are growing at a rapid rate, while techniques considering security and location and identity privacy are only now being addressed. Thus, usable systems that protect location-sensitive privacy concerns could have a major impact on society. The tools developed in this project will enable important and economically beneficial technologies to be developed for location-aware geo-social networks preserving privacy rights for the individuals using such services. In addition, a vital part of this project involves graduate-student participation in research. Thus, this project has the potential of bringing expanded research opportunities for developing the next generation of information technology researchers. Likewise, it also includes an important educational component.