A Taxonomy and Methodology for Proof-of-Location Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive framework and methodology for designing Proof-of-Location systems that ensure secure, trustworthy, and application-specific location verification in digital societies.

Contribution

It provides a unified taxonomy and a systematic approach to map application needs onto suitable Proof-of-Location architectures, aiding practitioners in system design.

Findings

A taxonomy with four core domains for PoL systems

A methodology to align application requirements with PoL protocols

Case studies demonstrating tailored PoL solutions for different use cases

Abstract

Digital societies increasingly rely on trustworthy proofs of physical presence for services such as supply-chain tracking, e-voting, ride-sharing, and location-based rewards. Yet, traditional localization methods often lack cryptographic guarantees of where and when an entity was present, leaving them vulnerable to spoofing, replay, or collusion attacks. In response, research on Proof-of-Location (PoL) has emerged, with recent approaches combining distance bounding, distributed consensus, and privacy-enhancing techniques to enable verifiable, tamper-resistant location claims. As the design space for PoL systems grows in complexity, this paper provides a unified framework to help practitioners navigate diverse application needs. We first propose a taxonomy identifying four core domains: (1) cryptographic guarantees, (2) spatio-temporal synchronization, (3) trust and witness models, and (4) interaction and overhead. Building on this, we introduce a methodology to map application-specific requirements onto appropriate PoL architectures. We illustrate this process through three use cases (retail e-coupons, supply chain auditing, and physical e-voting), each showing how different constraints shape protocol choices. Overall, this work offers a structured approach to building secure, scalable, and interoperable PoL systems.