GRK 2050:  Privacy and Trust for Mobile Users

• Subject Area: Computer Science
• Term: from 2015 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 251805230

For centuries, privacy and trust have been essential for all societies and, as a result,the objectof research in social sciences, economicsandlawalike. Since smartphones connectedalmost every citizenof the world to the Internet, privacy and trust have become more crucial than ever for computer science—and also forusability research due to the central role of humans. RTG 2050 incorporates all of the above disciplines into its researchonprivacyandtrust for mobile usersof the digitalworld. Phase II shall continue topursue the established research agenda,but adapt it to topical issues. E.g., the EU general data protection regulation illustrated the effectiveness of suitablelegal frameworks for privacy protection, but also their limits in the face of overstrained users. In theRTG, this leads to thequestion of suitable intermediaries (of various types) who assert privacy interests on behalf of users. This in turn requiresnew research on trust because only sufficiently trustworthy intermediaries find acceptance and represent the users inan appropriate manner. Each of the areas A–Dcontinues to address interdisciplinary research into privacy and trust andtheir interrelations. AreaAcontinues towork on the interaction of users and Internet services; here, recent research—alsoby the RTG—raised new questions about data markets, which shall be investigated further. Area B continues to investigateonline social networks, but with a timely focus on online communities that pursue common goals or utilities, calleddigital collectives. For these, trust and privacy are particularly relevant; in addition, one such goal or utility may be to actas intermediaries in the above sense. Area C addressed the RTG's challenge in the context of users whose mobile devicesinteract with sensor networks. This research shall extend fromthis special form of Internet of Things (IoT) to all forms of IoT;considerable new challenges arise from the mere quantity of devices along with heterogeneity and stakeholder diversityand from the transition from passive sensors to actuators. Orthogonal to A–C, Area D investigated socio-technicalconcepts for user empowerment (for privacy protection and trust assessment) on the paradigm of new mobile devicescalled AlterEgo. In Phase II, this paradigm is extended to federations of cooperating components and devices, which inturn provokes concepts of collective trust and—as a possible form of intermediaries—collective privacy protection.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Max Mühlhäuser
• Participating Researchers: Professor Dr. Peter Buxmann; Professor Dr. Marc Fischlin; Professor Dr. Oliver Hinz; Professor Dr.-Ing. Matthias Hollick; Professor Dr. Gerrit Hornung; Professor Dr. Jörn Lamla; Professorin Dr. Stephanie Pieschl; Professor Dr. Christian Reuter; Professor Dr.-Ing. Thomas Schneider; Professorin Dr. Indra Spiecker genannt Döhmann; Professor Dr. Joachim Vogt; Professor Dr. Michael Waidner