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.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, published as technical report of the Department of Computer Science of RWTH Aachen Universit

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 urbanspaces, 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.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 listing. The 2nd International Conference on Future Internet of Things and Cloud (FiCloud-2014

Wave-Induced Distribution of Microplastic in the Surf Zone

In this study, the wave-induced distribution of 13 microplastic (MP) samples of different size, shape, and density was investigated in a wave flume with a sandy mobile beach bed profile. The particle parameter were chosen based on an occurrence probability investigated from the field. MP abundances were analyzed in cross-shore and vertical direction of the test area after over 40,000 regular waves. It was found, that MP particles accumulated in more shallow waters with increasing size and density. Particles with high density (ρs>1.25 g/cm3) have been partly confined into deeper layers of the sloping beach during the formation of the bed profile. Particles with a density lower than that of water used in the experiments floated constantly in the surf zone or deposited on the beach caused by wave run-up. A correlation was found between the settling velocity of the MP particles and the flow velocity at the accumulation point and a power function equation developed. The obtained results were critically discussed with findings from the field and further laboratory studies

Trust by design? : Vertrauen als zentrale Ressource für die Cloud

Die Entwicklung hin zum Cloud-Computing und darauf basierenden Technologien stellt zweifellos eine der einschneidendsten Veränderungen in der jüngeren IT-Geschichte dar. Allgemein beschreibt der Begriff Cloud-Computing Modelle, in denen IT-Infrastrukturen, Plattformen und Dienste von den Nutzern nicht mehr selbst vorgehalten werden. Stattdessen werden diese als Dienstleistungen bezogen, die dynamisch, skalierbar und – räumlich wie organisatorisch – nicht mehr eindeutig zuordenbar sind. Dabei bieten Cloud-Technologien Nutzungsmöglichkeiten, die über die Verlagerung und ubiquitäre Verfügbarmachung von Rechen- und Speicherkapazität im Rahmen typischer IT-Anwendungen hinausgehen: Ein Großteil unserer täglichen Kommunikation wird über die Cloud abgewickelt. Offensichtlich birgt diese Entwicklung das Potential, (nicht nur) individuelle Arbeits- und Lebenswelten entscheidend zu verändern – man denke nur an mit Sensorik und Aktorik gespickte Wohn- und Arbeitsräume –, genauso wie sie neue Geschäftsfelder eröffnet, neue Beziehungen zwischen Personen und Unternehmen impliziert und neue Formen der Kooperation bedingt. Die Relevanz für die Soziologie scheint also auf der Hand zu liegen. Umso erstaunlicher scheint es uns, dass das Phänomen Cloud Computing in seiner ganzen Breite bislang wenig Eingang in die soziologische Forschung gefunden hat.An dieser Stelle setzt der vorliegende Beitrag an und versucht, die Cloud als eine grundlegende Infrastruktur für vernetztes Leben und Arbeiten stärker ins Blickfeld zu rücken. Insbesondere werden wir aufzeigen, warum sich Cloud-Computing als soziale Technologie im besten Sinne darstellt und inwiefern Vertrauen aus unserer Perspektive als Schlüsselressource für das Funktionieren des Prinzips Cloud-Computing fungiert. Daraus leiten wir die Forderung nach trust by design als Gestaltungprinzip für Cloud-Technologien und Anwendungen ab und präsentieren abschließend ein Implementationsbeispiel dieses Prinzips