Daniel Kerpen

A comprehensive approach to privacy in the cloud-based Internet of Things

In the near future, the Internet of Things is expected to penetrate all aspects of the physical world, including homes and urban spaces. In order to handle the massive amount of data that becomes collectible and to offer services on top of this data, the most convincing solution is the federation of the Internet of Things and cloud computing. Yet, the wide adoption of this promising vision, especially for application areas such as pervasive health care, assisted living, and smart cities, is hindered by severe privacy concerns of the individual users. Hence, user acceptance is a critical factor to turn this vision into reality.To address this critical factor and thus realize the cloud-based Internet of Things for a variety of different application areas, we present our comprehensive approach to privacy in this envisioned setting. We allow an individual user to enforce all her privacy requirements before any sensitive data is uploaded to the cloud, enable developers of cloud services to integrate privacy functionality already into the development process of cloud services, and offer users a transparent and adaptable interface for configuring their privacy requirements. Observation: Adoption of cloud-based IoT is hindered by severe privacy concerns.We protect potentially sensitive data before it is uploaded to the cloud.We support service developers in developing privacy functionality for a service.We shift decisions about privacy from developers and providers to users.We provide users with a transparent and adaptable interface for configuring privacy.

SensorCloud: Towards the Interdisciplinary Development of a Trustworthy Platform for Globally Interconnected Sensors and Actuators

Although Cloud Computing promises to lower IT costs and increase users’ productivity in everyday life, the unattractive aspect of this new technology is that the user no longer owns all the devices which process personal data. To lower scepticism, the project SensorCloud investigates techniques to understand and compensate these adoption barriers in a scenario consisting of cloud applications that utilize sensors and actuators placed in private places. This work provides an interdisciplinary overview of the social and technical core research challenges for the trustworthy integration of sensor and actuator devices with the Cloud Computing paradigm. Most importantly, these challenges include (i) ease of development, (ii) security and privacy, and (iii) social dimensions of a cloud-based system which integrates into private life. When these challenges are tackled in the development of future cloud systems, the attractiveness of new use cases in a sensor-enabled world will considerably be increased for users who currently do not trust the Cloud.

User-Driven Privacy Enforcement for Cloud-Based Services in the Internet of Things

Internet of Things devices are envisioned to penetrate essentially all aspects of life, including homes and urban spaces, in use cases such as health care, assisted living, and smart cities. One often proposed solution for dealing with the massive amount of data collected by these devices and offering services on top of them is the federation of the Internet of Things and cloud computing. However, user acceptance of such systems is a critical factor that hinders the adoption of this promising approach due to severe privacy concerns. We present UPECSI, an approach for user-driven privacy enforcement for cloud-based services in the Internet of Things to address this critical factor. UPECSI enables enforcement of all privacy requirements of the user once her sensitive data leaves the border of her network, provides a novel approach for the integration of privacy functionality into the development process of cloud-based services, and offers the user an adaptable and transparent configuration of her privacy requirements. Hence, UPECSI demonstrates an approach for realizing user-accepted cloud services in the Internet of Things.

SozioTex-Sociotechnical systems in the Textile Industry: InterdisciplinaryCompetence Build-up in Human-machine Interaction Facing DemographicChange

High-wage countries are on the brink of change, due to social and technological effects. In this paper, we will first give an outlook on both these effects concerning the German textile industry. Second, we will shortly describe the interdisciplinary build-up of our research group which influences the way how we address our research issues. Finally, we will outline two prototypical applications that serve as demonstrators for further user tests and subsequent developments.

SensorCloud: Sociological Contextualization of an Innovative Cloud Platform

Cloud Computing’s tremendous implications on individual, organizational, and societal levels call for a decisively socio-technical perspective of analysis. This paper contributes to such a regard by applying a framework which focuses on human-technology interaction, innovation processes, and social acceptance of emerging technologies. By reviewing main strands of cloud related research, central sociological research foci are identified which lead to an exploratory qualitative acceptance study focusing on Cloud Computing in general and its application in a smart home context in particular. In 24 in-depth interviews, security of the data, privacy, and minimization of misuse possibilities, reliability and stability of the system, as well as the fear of autonomy losses are identified as central problems. The interviewees report on safety and security, improvement of energy efficiency and gains in comfort as the most important fields for Cloud Computing applications in smart homes. The contribution concludes with an outlook on future work.

Intersecting the digital maze. Considering ethics in cloud-based services' research

Significant mobile device interactivity is realized by cloud computing – e.g., smartphone applications („apps“) as well as industrial smart manufacturing systems. The contribution deals with how cloud-based services such as these lead to severe privacy concerns that require consideration as ethical issues in ICT research projects. Furthermore, it critically discusses interdisciplinary, stakeholder-oriented conceptualizations of context-aware and reflective system designs.

Soziotechnische Assistenzsysteme für die Produktionsarbeit in der Textilbranche

Die Entwicklung hin zu Industrie 4.0 basiert in erster Linie auf modernen Produktionsmaschinen in Verbindung mit digitalen Technologien. Diesem Trend folgend werden der Betrieb und die Entwicklung von modernen Textilmaschinen immer komplexer und erfordern komplexe Fahigkeiten und Arbeitsaufgaben des Bedienpersonals in den verschiedenen Qualifizierungsphasen. Unter dem Gesichtspunkt der zunehmenden Heterogenitat der Produktionsbelegschaft, insbesondere dem Wachstum der Gruppe der alteren Arbeitnehmer/-innen, scheint die differentiell-dynamische Arbeitsgestaltung in der Textilproduktion aktueller denn je. Die Verwendung von Assistenzsystemen ermoglicht eine altersgerechte Arbeit und qualifikationsspezifische Unterstutzung der Mitarbeiter/-innen. Diese Unterstutzung ermoglicht den Beschaftigten, ihre Berufsfahigkeit zu erhalten.

Human-and Task-Centered Assistance Systems in Production Processes of the Textile Industry: Determination of Operator-Critical Weaving Machine Components for AR-Prototype Development

Smart manufacturing concepts merge modern production machinery and digital technologies in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). CPS consist of intelligent real-time-capable and networked sensors and actuators. The operation of such advanced machinery requires new and substantial skills in employees in various qualification phases. Successful implementation strategies take these varying skills of the workforce, which result from diverse cultural, educational, age-or gender-related socio-demographic variables, into account. Thus, the need for a differential-dynamic job design in textile production seems more relevant than ever, especially regarding the increasing number of older employees due to demographic changes in high-wage countries,. An important measure that is intertwined with the implementation of advanced manufacturing concepts in textile production is supporting employees in their development of skills concerning these new production methods. For this purpose, the development of Augmented reality-based assistance systems in connection with up-to-date textile machinery is regarded as a promising step towards the successful implementation of adequate, user-adaptable Cyber-Physical Systems.