Deontic logic for modelling data flow and use compliance

ABSTRACT

We advocate using deontic logic and its representation in the Event Calculus to control access to information in a distributed ubiquitous system. Contracts between information owners are encoded in terms of classes of organisations, data, and interactions. Fluents, events, and application-specific rules that link the two are then extracted from the contracts and mapped to the components, endpoints, and messages used to implement the system. The expression of organisations' responsibilities is natural and leads to a simple mechanism of data flow monitoring. Some parts of the system can make forward progress while others are in conflict, meaning that resolution does not impede other processing. Furthermore, specification in terms of entities' behaviour rather than explicit modelling of service level agreements (SLAs) means that it is straightforward to make decisions based on observations that are not specified in the SLA but that are noticed by a human as being abnormal.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.4 Systems and Software
          Subjects: Distributed systems

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.1 Systems and Information Theory
          Subjects: Value of information

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.4 Knowledge Representation Formalisms and Methods
          Subjects: Relation systems

General Terms:
Management, Security

Keywords:
contract, deontic logic, event calculus, middleware