PFIREWALL: Semantics-Aware Customizable Data Flow Control for Smart Home Privacy Protection

Internet of Things (IoT) platforms enable users to deploy home automation applications. Meanwhile, privacy issues arise as large amounts of sensitive device data flow out to IoT platforms. Most of the data flowing to a platform actually do not trigger automation actions, while homeowners currently have no control once devices are bound to the platform. We present PFIREWALL, a customizable data-flow control system to enhance the privacy of IoT platform users. PFIREWALL automatically generates data-minimization policies, which only disclose minimum amount of data to fulfill automation. In addition, PFIREWALL provides interfaces for homeowners to customize individual privacy preferences by defining user-specified policies. To enforce these policies, PFIREWALL transparently intervenes and mediates the communication between IoT devices and the platform, without modifying the platform, IoT devices, or hub. Evaluation results on four real-world testbeds show that PFIREWALL reduces IoT data sent to the platform by 97% without impairing home automation, and effectively mitigates user-activity inference/tracking attacks and other privacy risks.

Automated summary

PFIREWALL is a customizable data-flow control system aimed at enhancing the privacy of IoT platform users. It automatically generates data-minimization policies and allows users to customize privacy preferences through user-specified policies. Evaluation results show that PFIREWALL significantly reduces IoT data sent to the platform without impairing home automation, effectively mitigating privacy risks.