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Spatial Anonymity

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Encyclopedia of Database Systems

Synonyms

Spatial k-anonymity; Privacy-preserving spatial queries; Anonymity in location-based services

Definition

Let U be a user who is asking via a mobile device (e.g., phone, PDA) a query relevant to his current location, such as “find the nearest betting office.” This query can be answered by a Location Based Service (LBS) in a public web server (e.g., Google Maps, MapQuest), which is not trustworthy. Since the query may be sensitive, U uses encryption and a pseudonym, in order to protect his privacy. However, the query still contains the exact location, which may reveal the identity of U. For example, if U asks the query within his residence, an attacker may use public information (e.g., white pages) to associate the location with U. Spatial k-Anonymity (SKA) solves this problem by ensuring that an attacker cannot identify U as the querying user with probability larger than 1∕k, where kis a user-defined anonymity requirement. To achieve this, a centralized or distributed...

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Recommended Reading

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Panos Kalnis & Gabriel Ghinita

Authors
  1. Panos Kalnis
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  2. Gabriel Ghinita
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Kalnis, P., Ghinita, G. (2009). Spatial Anonymity. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_352

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