Applications and Privacy Issues with Sensor Nets

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Applications and Privacy Issues with Sensor Nets
Jason Hong Carnegie Mellon University
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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, wheres my stuff?
• Drunk again?

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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?

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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?
• Dont forget sense of play (De-Tour Guide)
• Need rapid prototyping tools to assess utility
  before deploy
• Please, no more smart fridges!!!