2013 LTS Lecture Series: "Privacy by Design: Encounter-based Networking" by Bobby Bhattacharjee

Location: LTS Auditorium, Laboratory for Telecommunications Sciences, 8080 Greenmead Drive, College Park, MD 20740

Speaker:
Dr. Bobby Bhattacharjee
Department of Computer Science, and
Institute for Advanced Computer Studies
University of Maryland, College Park

Abstract:
Protections over personal data stored online are either by faith or fiat. Users of online services have little say over how their data are stored, shared, searched, or expunged, leaving privacy-conscious users a (ever-less feasible) choice of opting not to use online services at all. Privacy concerns are particularly worrisome for data acquired by and stored on mobile devices, where a small number of providers entirely control software, device hardware, infrastructure, and policy.

In this talk, Dr. Bhattacharjee will introduce Encounter-based Networking (EbN): a framework for implementing privacy-preserving services over commodity mobile devices. In EbN, messages are addressed to encounters between pairs of devices. Encounters are anonymous and unlinkable by default, but users can optionally make themselves recognizable by selected others, and revoke this privilege unilaterally and quietly. Since EbN continuously senses for nearby devices, scalability and energy efficiency are of primary concern. He will then describe the underlying design of the EbN cryptographic protocols, efficient implementations, and prototype applications. He will conclude with a discussion of new types of services and applications that a privacy-preserving mobile infrastructure enables.

About the speaker:
Bobby Bhattacharjee a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Maryland. His research interests are in data privacy, security- and networking protocols, and computer systems. He received a NSF CAREER award in 2001, and was awarded a fellowship by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 2004. He is a member of the ACM.