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ABSTRACT

Network operators gradually open their interfaces to formerly hidden services. This fosters the development of a new class of mobile applications that take into account context information such as the location of users. However, the development of location-based services also raises the issue of users location-privacy.

In this paper we introduce a service architecture that aims to overcome some of the shortages of currently existing context-aware applications by applying a novel pseudonym based privacy enhancing mechanism that is based on the notion of pseudonyms. This mechanism can even be applied on legacy mobile devices with restricted memory or processing power. Due to its flexibility many different kinds of applications are conceivable. One of the most important aspects in this respect is the highly postulated pay-as-you-go model. To illustrate our approach we demonstrate a transport ticket application that is extended by location-tracking functionality.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.1 Public Policy Issues

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.1 Network Architecture and Design
          Subjects: Wireless communication; Network communications

  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
        D.2.11 Software Architectures
            Subjects: Domain-specific architectures

  E. Data
  E.3 DATA ENCRYPTION

General Terms:
Legal Aspects, Security

Keywords:
location-based services, privacy, security, telecommunication networks