Applications and Privacy Issues with Sensor Nets

Jason HongCarnegie Mellon University

Some Applications

• 911.net– Rapidly deployable sensor net for firefighters

– Rapid response when an individual in danger

• Families– Am I leaving with everything I came with?

• Personal motivation– Help me be more green / more active

– Combine with social web sites (FootPrints)

• Smart Homes– Home monitoring of elderly (CMU QoLT)

– Just moved, where’s my stuff?

– Drunk again?

Privacy and Sensor Nets

• Two separate notions– Privacy with respect to owners of sensor net vs users

• For owners:– Transparency and accountability

– Privacy policies

– Protection at physical layer for plausible deniability

• For users:– “Did you get there safely?” vs “Where are you?”

– Pessimistic vs optimistic privacy

• Will we trade privacy for safety, fairness, public good?

Other Issues to Consider

• How do mobile phones fit in?– Are people part of sensor nets too? (Gawker Stalker)

• What is the deployment model / business model?– Home Depot model? Paid service? Public city infrastructure?

• How to maximize public good? – Small percentage with Lojack decreases overall car thefts

• What is the user interaction like?– Is it working? Broken? Dead batteries everywhere?

– Don’t forget sense of play (De-Tour Guide)

– Need rapid prototyping tools to assess utility before deploy

– Please, no more smart fridges!!!