Raymond Morel
4011 days ago
"
Technology influences positively the way we live, work and enjoy ourselves. It addresses emerging
mobility requirements and information needs; however, at the same time, technology poses many risks already
identified or new, that will have to be dealt with. Balancing security and privacy issues is fundamental
in making the world of tomorrow acceptable, based on the technology-enabled democratic principles
that we have come to understand and apply for years. The danger here is that users faced with increasing
privacy intrusion will simply decide not to use the technologically-enabled services, thus impacting on the
potential for growth, employment opportunities and living in digital world as a whole.
Considering that people have over the years mastered the art of using distance as an indicator to control
the amount and type of personal data they wanted to share, IPTS has set out to study the concept of Digital
Territories (DT) and assess the likelihood that it may be used to balance security and privacy needs in
the digital world. Primarily, we tried to envision specific situations of personal data in a home environment,
which is continuously stretched through the social needs of its constituent members. This resulted in the
study of Virtual Residence, where measures to adequately protect personal data were studied, even in those
cases where these data were stored in servers controlled by third parties. Then the concept of the bubble
was created to denote a personal info-sphere surrounding the individual, which is used to restrict and / or
allow the information coming in or going out of it; based on the idea of the bubble, the concept of territories
of influence started to emerge.
Emerging concerns regarding security and privacy and the protection of personal data pointed at a
need to further develop the identified concept of DT into a framework that would enable users to manage
proximity and distance with others in the digital and the presumable ambient intelligence space. Thus, considering
the concepts of private and public space on the one hand and physical and digital space on the
other, and their interrelation, the DT concept was further developed. The objective was to provide a more
systematic view on the blurring boundaries of public and private digital space, and thus assist towards tackling
concerns of privacy, security and identity of people’s online activities.
This report is an introduction to the concept and framework of the Digital Territories, attempting to
prove its relevance and usefulness and arguing in favour of more research in this area."
Table of contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................. 7
1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 11
1.1. A new world....................................................................................................................... 11
1.2. Peeping through the hole.................................................................................................... 12
1.3. Scope and structure of the report ........................................................................................ 13
2. A NEW CONCEPT FOR A NEW WORLD: DIGITAL TERRITORIES............................................. 15
2.1. Types of DT ........................................................................................................................ 16
2.1.1. Primary or personal ................................................................................................. 16
2.1.2. Secondary or group ................................................................................................. 16
2.1.3. Public...................................................................................................................... 17
2.2. Basic DT components......................................................................................................... 18
2.2.1. The bubble .............................................................................................................. 18
2.2.2. Borders and markers................................................................................................ 19
2.2.3. Bridges .................................................................................................................... 20
3. A SPECIAL CASE – THE VIRTUAL RESIDENCE........................................................................... 21
3.1. Smart home ........................................................................................................................ 22
3.2. Mobility.............................................................................................................................. 23
3.3. Online family life ............................................................................................................... 23
4. INTO PERSPECTIVE: WHY DT? ................................................................................................. 25
4.1. Privacy and data protection considerations in the digital and AmI environment.................. 25
4.2. Privacy protection laws, regulations and standards exist and are in effect ........................... 27
4.3. Enters DT… ........................................................................................................................ 28
4.3.1. DT in action I – the present: from simple Internet search
to Social Networking and Web2.0.......................................................................... 29
4.3.2. DT in action II – the future: RFID implants............................................................... 32
4.4. Synthesis ............................................................................................................................ 33
5. EPILOGUE.................................................................................................................................. 37
5.1. Some considerations… ....................................................................................................... 37
5.2. Next steps........................................................................................................................... 37
REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 39
ANNEX I: A VIRTUAL RESIDENCE IN AN AMBIENT INTELLIGENCE SPACE................................. 41
Executive summary............................................................................................................ 41
Introduction....................................................................................................................... 43
Virtual Residence: Definition and Basics............................................................................ 48
Possible application fields for VR....................................................................................... 59
Table of contents
Technical Report Series
ANNEX II: STUDY ON DIGITAL TERRITORIES.............................................................................. 69
Executive summary............................................................................................................ 69
Introduction....................................................................................................................... 72
Tools and approach for the study ....................................................................................... 74
Study methodology and work plan followed...................................................................... 76
Detailed introduction of the concept of digital territories ................................................... 78
Key technologies for DT and emerging technologies involved ........................................... 82
Boundaries and the management of distance and proximity .............................................. 86
Bubble, a contextual data filter .......................................................................................... 90
Private and public spaces .................................................................................................. 94
Bridges between real and digital worlds ............................................................................ 96
Legal and social framework ............................................................................................... 101
Security and privacy concerns ........................................................................................... 104
Mobility of citizens............................................................................................................ 111
Suggestions for raising awareness ...................................................................................... 114
Conclusions....................................................................................................................... 114
References......................................................................................................................... 115
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