A Privacy-aware Platform for Sharing Personal Information on Wearable Devices

Personal information (PI) embodies a wide and sometimes fuzzy spectrum of user privacy and security concerns. Recently, with the rapid progression in mobile technologies, a new frontier with both opportunities and vulnerabilities has come to fruition. Multitudes of personal fitness devices are able to capture data at any time, storing it on users' mobile devices. Third party developers can access this data, raising questions about the security of users' sensitive information, in addition to privacy concerns related to the possibly identifiable nature of the data. Frameworks such as Apple's HealthKit provide terms to developers, which restrict what can be done with personal user information. However, the wording of these frameworks is largely vague, and sharing settings within the OS are restrictive. In order to provide users with a more customizable and informative user-interface, as well as developers with a framework for requesting access to health data, a new standard must be created. We propose a model able to store privacy predicates for each piece of health information requested. We also propose a new platform, allowing users to select privacy settings in an efficient and informative manner. It is imperative that a uniform and scalable solution be put in place such that the privacy and security of personal and potentially identifiable health data remains an utmost concern. Our implementation provides a method to meet these concerns. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.