Context-based Pseudonym Changing Scheme for Vehicular Adhoc Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a context-adaptive pseudonym changing scheme for vehicular ad hoc networks that dynamically balances privacy and safety by adjusting pseudonym changes based on traffic density and privacy preferences.

Contribution

It presents a novel adaptive scheme that autonomously determines pseudonym change timing and duration, improving privacy without significantly degrading safety-related communication.

Findings

Scheme outperforms random silent period schemes in privacy preservation.

Maintains acceptable QoS for collision warning applications.

Adapts effectively to varying traffic densities.

Abstract

Vehicular adhoc networks allow vehicles to share their information for safety and traffic efficiency. However, sharing information may threaten the driver privacy because it includes spatiotemporal information and is broadcast publicly and periodically. In this paper, we propose a context-adaptive pseudonym changing scheme which lets a vehicle decide autonomously when to change its pseudonym and how long it should remain silent to ensure unlinkability. This scheme adapts dynamically based on the density of the surrounding traffic and the user privacy preferences. We employ a multi-target tracking algorithm to measure privacy in terms of traceability in realistic vehicle traces. We use Monte Carlo analysis to estimate the quality of service (QoS) of a forward collision warning application when vehicles apply this scheme. According to the experimental results, the proposed scheme provides a better compromise between traceability and QoS than a random silent period scheme.