CICI: Secure and Resilient Architecture: Campus Infrastructure for Microscale, Privacy-Conscious, Data-Driven Planning

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

Individuals today generate an immense amount of data as a byproduct of their daily activities through use of mobile phones, wearable devices, and online services. These small bits of data are called microscale data. The availability of microscale data creates new opportunities for solving a variety of complex planning problems at the institutional level, but it also raises concerns about security and privacy for the individual whose data is collected. The ability to realize the beneficial uses of microscale data is threatened by these concerns over privacy. This project develops and evaluates an architecture that allows individuals to monitor and manage sharing of their microscale data in order to maximize individual and institutional utility. This project develops a software framework to support the implementation of data-driven planning applications where individuals have fine-grained control over use of their data. Work on the project focuses on: (i) creating a campus testbed capable of acquiring microscale data streams from sources such as wireless access points, card readers, room sensors, and point-of-sale systems; (ii) building a data management platform that offers flexible controls for imposing use-based restrictions on queries and transformations of microscale data; (iii) developing applications that use microscale data to solve practical planning problems related to transportation, space, and food in a campus setting. Having an open-source platform that addresses fundamental security and privacy challenges for microscale data has the potential for large impact on real applications and industry. Under the auspices of this funding, the investigators will also develop masters-level projects on microscale data-driven planning, providing the next generation of engineers with training in an emerging interdisciplinary area.