DECENT: A Decentralized Architecture for Enforcing Privacy in Online Social Networks

TL;DR

DECENT is a decentralized peer-to-peer architecture for online social networks that enhances privacy and security using cryptography, data replication, and flexible access policies, aiming to match centralized OSN functionality.

Contribution

It introduces DECENT, a novel decentralized OSN architecture employing distributed hash tables and cryptographic protections for improved privacy and security.

Findings

DECENT effectively protects user data and relationships from unauthorized access.

The system achieves comparable functionality to centralized OSNs with manageable overhead.

Simulation and PlanetLab experiments demonstrate DECENT's practicality and performance.

Abstract

A multitude of privacy breaches, both accidental and malicious, have prompted users to distrust centralized providers of online social networks (OSNs) and investigate decentralized solutions. We examine the design of a fully decentralized (peer-to-peer) OSN, with a special focus on privacy and security. In particular, we wish to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of user content and the privacy of user relationships. We propose DECENT, an architecture for OSNs that uses a distributed hash table to store user data, and features cryptographic protections for confidentiality and integrity, as well as support for flexible attribute policies and fast revocation. DECENT ensures that neither data nor social relationships are visible to unauthorized users and provides availability through replication and authentication of updates. We evaluate DECENT through simulation and experiments on the PlanetLab network and show that DECENT is able to replicate the main functionality of current centralized OSNs with manageable overhead.