Security and Privacy Objectives for Sensing Applications in Wireless Community Networks

Wireless Community Networks (WCN) are formed by the integration of user-operated wireless sensor networks that are internetworked by wireless mesh networks available within urban communities. WCNs enable novel applications for the members of the community. These include different sensing applications, where individuals contribute sensor data for further use within their community at large or with well-defined restrictions to certain users. Sensing application scenarios for WCNs differ from traditional sensor network applications with respect to their security and privacy requirements. In this paper, we define three representative scenarios-personal sensing, designated sensing, and community sensing. These scenarios are then studied with respect to their privacy and security implications. In particular, we identify main research questions and highlight the challenges of using various security and privacy approaches from networking and cryptography to make sensing applications in WCNs security and privacy aware.