Design and development of a dynamic role management API for data protection in smart city applications

• Main Author: Παναγιωτίδης, Αθανάσιος
• Other Authors: Panagiotidis, Athanasios
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Internet of Things (IoT); Smart cities; Data masking; Role-based access control; Διαδίκτυο των Αντικειμένων; Έξυπνες πόλεις

The Internet of things (IoT) refers to the connection of physical objects allowing them to communicate and exchange data over the Internet. IoT solutions gather information from many different sources in order to build an accurate representation of the real world. This data is then analyzed and used to either actuate physical devices or provide useful information about the state of a system. Technological advancements in fields such as embedded systems, machine learning and big data analysis have led to an increasing number of smart devices being used in many aspects of people's everyday lives. In the smart city domain, smart solutions span across a wide range of applications. The usage of heterogeneous technologies, platforms and data models often leads to information silos and vendor lock-ins. Data sharing facilitates interoperability of smart city applications. Since data collected, stored and processed in smart city applications often contain sensitive information, it is important that all necessary measures regarding security and privacy are taken. The main goal of this thesis is the development of a dynamic role management API (application programming interface) that can be used for data protection in smart city applications. In order to restrict access to sensitive information, data masking techniques as well as role-based access control (RBAC) are utilized. SafeAmea, which is a digital platform designed to facilitate accessibility to emergency services for people with disabilities, was used to demonstrate the functionality of the developed API. The SafeAmea platform was developed by the Network Architectures and Management Group (NAM) of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Patras.