This seminar will discuss privacy and security implications of “things” being connected to each other through Internet-like networks. More specifically, we will discuss new privacy threats, attack techniques and ways to defend against them in the context of the Internet of Things.

Topics to be covered include (but may not be limited to):  Smart car privacy - Issues and emerging solutions; Wearable privacy - Issues and emerging solutions; Indoor/in-store tracking; Privacy leaks on mobile devices; Device fingerprinting; Inference of smartphone users’ activities through traffic analysis; Automatically detecting SSL vulnerabilities in Android Apps; Smart TV privacy; Data anonymization and differential privacy: Issues and emerging solutions; Transparency-enhancing technologies – A taxonomy; Mandatory data retention (Vorratsdatenspeicherung): Pros and Cons; Law enforcement technologies and Privacy; Private information sharing in online communities; ...

Participants will be given a topic and a short list of recent research papers, and will be asked to prepare a seminar talk and submit a written report. The primary goal of this seminar is to improve students’ ability to (1) read and interpret research articles, (2) prepare a presentation similar to what is required at scientific conferences and (3) lead/participate in a scientific discussion. In the scope of this seminar, students will simulate the different phases of a scientific conference: Paper submission, review, notification/feedback, submission of the final version of the report, presentation session and possibly the chairing a session.