Protecting location privacy in multi-hop wireless networks
Location-of-interest vs. Current-location Privacy in Multi-hop Communication
Cryptography and Security
Summary
In wireless networks where messages pass through several devices, just knowing which devices talk can reveal where someone is now or where they want to go. The authors studied the balance between keeping a person’s current location private versus keeping their destination private. They also looked at the best ways to choose fake destinations to hide real queries. This helps users make smarter choices to protect their location privacy.
What this means in practice
- •For network security engineers: Design privacy features in wireless relay networks that better protect user location data by choosing smart dummy destinations.
- •For mobile device developers: Implement techniques in apps or firmware to obscure user queries in multi-hop communications improving location privacy.
Authors
Ryan Vogt, Ioanis Nikolaidis, Mario A. Nascimento
Abstract
Consider a standard multi-hop wireless radio network in which nodes relay messages for one another. While the contents of messages may be sensitive and thus encrypted, the very fact that two radios communicated can leak sensitive information about both the physical location of the origin and the physical location of the destination. We investigate the trade-off between protecting the privacy of a user's current location and the privacy of their location of interest, and how the user should choose dummy destinations to obfuscate their queries.