Trusted Intermediary for Secure Third-Party Sensor Data Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of sensors in smart homes and offices poses a significant security risk as malicious third parties can abuse sensor data, potentially leading to privacy invasion, health hazards, and property damage, with existing solutions failing to adequately secure third-party access to sensitive data.
Innovation Solution
A system that securely enables third-party application access to sensor networks by computing predicate data based on user-specified policies, anonymizing sensor data, and using pseudonyms to protect user identities, while maintaining control signals and access rights, ensuring secure and controlled data sharing between trusted and non-trusted processing environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If third party applications are enabled to access sensor data, then service functionality and innovation are improved, but security risks and privacy exposure worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a trusted service provider as an intermediary between sensor networks and third party applications. This mediator computes predicate data from sensor readings and shares only this processed information with third parties, preventing direct access to raw sensor data while still enabling useful services. The intermediary architecture resolves the contradiction by allowing service functionality through controlled data sharing while maintaining security through architectural isolation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the necessary information (predicate data) from the full sensor data set and shares only this extracted portion with third party applications. By taking out and sharing only the computed predicate rather than the complete sensor readings, the system enables service functionality while minimizing privacy exposure and security risks associated with full data access.
2Loss of information
If all sensor data is shared with third parties, then data completeness for service accuracy is improved, but user privacy and data sensitivity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and shares only predicate data computed from sensor readings, not the complete raw sensor data. This extraction approach provides sufficient information for third party services to function accurately while removing personally identifiable and sensitive information, thus maintaining data completeness for service purposes while protecting user privacy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms raw sensor data into predicate data through computation, changing the parameter representation from detailed sensor readings to summarized logical conclusions. This parameter transformation maintains the essential information needed for service accuracy while reducing sensitivity and privacy exposure by presenting data in a less identifiable form.
3Device complexity
If third party applications execute in non-trusted environments, then system complexity and control requirements are reduced, but security control and data protection worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the trusted service provider intermediary to isolate third party applications from direct access to sensor networks, regardless of whether they execute in trusted or non-trusted environments. The intermediary computes and shares predicate data through controlled interfaces, maintaining security controls while allowing flexible deployment environments. This resolves the contradiction by decoupling execution environment from security control through the intermediary architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus in an illustrative embodiment comprises at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory. The processing device is configured to receive sensor data from one or more nodes of a node network, to compute predicate data based at least in part on the received sensor data, to transmit at least a portion of the received sensor data and the computed predicate data to a third party application, to receive additional data from the third party application responsive to the transmitted portion of the received sensor data and the computed predicate data, to generate a control signal based at least in part on the received sensor data, the computed predicate data, and the received additional data from the third party application, and to transmit the control signal to at least one of the nodes of the node network. Other illustrative embodiments include methods and computer program products.