IBM Research announced the launch of an innovative cloud technology to protect personal data

IBM researchers today announced the launch of a new cloud technology that will help consumers enhance the protection of their personal data on the Internet.

A technology called Identity Mixer uses a cryptographic algorithm to encrypt validated user credentials such as his age, nationality, address, and credit card number. Through the use of this technology, the consumer will be able to transfer to the third party only the necessary amount of personal information. Identity Mixer can also be used in an electronic wallet that has account data confirmed by a trusted third party, in particular, information from electronic ID cards. It is important to note that the issuer does not receive any information about how and when data is used.

“Identity Mixer enables users to choose which data they need to provide and to whom,” said Christina Peters, IBM director of privacy protection. “Thanks to this technology, web service providers can reduce their own risks and increase customer confidence in the resource. In addition, the new solution is in the cloud, which greatly simplifies the programming process for developers. ”
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According to comScore, the average person spends about 25 hours a month on the Internet *, having access to dozens of different Internet services, including social networks, banking and online shopping sites. For almost every site, the user needs to create his own profile with a login and password or with a cryptographic key for enhanced security. Despite the fact that such tools provide a sufficient level of security for solving many tasks, they usually do not guarantee the protection of confidential information of the user, which leads to the disclosure of excessive amounts of personal data, which may fall into the wrong hands with serious consequences.



As an example, consider a streaming video service that offers movies with age restrictions. In order to watch a movie recommended for people over 12, Alice needs to confirm that she’s already 12 years old, and she lives in a certain region. To perform this task in the usual way, Alice will need to enter the full date of birth and all details of her address, but this will lead to the disclosure of a large amount of personal information. Identity Mixer is able to confirm that Alice is already 12 years old, without revealing the month, date and year of her birth, and to show that she lives in the region where the services of the service are available. In addition, even if the service is hacked, Alice's personal data will be safe.
If Alice needs to use a credit card to buy a film, the video streaming service in a similar way can only find out that Alice’s card is valid and you can pay for it. Full card number and expiration date is not disclosed.



Identity Mixer, previously available for download and working on smart cards, is now presented to developers as a convenient web service on the IBM Bluemix platform - an open cloud solution like PaaS, combining the strengths of IBM software, third-party and open technologies. Beginning in the spring, BlueMix subscribers will be able to use Identity Mixer to optimize their applications and web services. Using the convenient drop-down menu, developers can select the types of data that they would like to protect, and BlueMix in turn will provide code that can then be embedded in their resource.
“Identity Mixer is the result of more than ten years of research, the main purpose of which was to minimize identification disclosures. At the moment, this solution is ready for use in operations both on PCs and mobile devices, ”said Dr. Jan Kamenish, a cryptographer at IBM Research and co-author of Identity Mixer.

“We wanted every user to control the amount of personal data that he wants to provide about himself,” said Dr. Anna Lisyanskaya, co-author of Identity Mixer and a professor in the computer science department at Brown University. “Thanks to a new cloud solution, developers have at their disposal a powerful cryptographic tool for protecting personal data. Identity Mixer is a piece of software that can be embedded in a credential management system in order to eliminate the possibility of breach of confidentiality. ”

European and Australian pilot projects to demonstrate Identity Mixer features

To demonstrate the capabilities of the new cloud version of Identity Mixer, IBM scientists, together with scientific and industrial partners in Europe and Australia, are implementing a pilot project called Authentication and Authorization for Entrusted Unions (AU2EU). Over the two years of the program, worth € 8.6 million, scientists will test the Identity Mixer in two applications: in the German Red Cross and in the State Association for Scientific and Applied Research (Australia’s national scientific agency).

The German Red Cross is the main center for providing emergency assistance by telephone and social services to citizens in the regions of Germany, providing specialized services to the population around the clock, in particular, emergency rescue operations, assistance in moving, housekeeping and medical treatment. The organization employs about four million volunteers and professional staff in 52 hospitals and over 500 nursing homes around the world.

As part of a pilot program, 20 home Red Cross patients in the south-west of Germany were provided with home activity sensors and monitoring of health and medical indicators. The data collected from these devices were transferred to a dedicated cloud server, where the information was analyzed to determine the type of assistance needed. In addition, representatives of the Red Cross received mobile devices for collecting and registering confidential customer data, including medical records, information about medications taken and contacts of relatives, for the subsequent conclusion of a service contract. Identity Mixer will be used to protect the privacy of your personal information. The project was implemented in partnership with NEC Europe and Tunstall Healthcare. **



“Our main task for the past 150 years has been to help victims of conflicts and natural disasters, as well as other vulnerable groups of the population, including supporting people during their illness at home, in movement and transportation. New technologies are playing an increasingly important role in achieving this goal, especially for home alarm systems, said Caroline Greiner, regional manager of the German Red Cross in the Rhein-Neckar area and the city of Heidelberg. - Here we offer services to senior citizens so that they can stay at home in a comfortable and familiar environment for them. The confidentiality technology tested during the project should ensure the provision of the most qualified assistance and ensure reliable protection of our clients' personal data at the highest level. Only by taking steps to enhance the protection of personal information will we be able to maintain the trust of the people we serve around the world. ”

The second pilot project aims to improve the productivity of Australian agriculture and increase the export trade of relevant products without viral infections, especially in animals. To prevent the onset and spread of viruses, the Australian Government, together with key partners, has developed an emergency rapid response plan for an outbreak of the disease. This plan involves the combined efforts of government, educational and other research organizations, as well as industry partners to create a safe, reliable and interactive decision-making environment. Identity Mixer will ensure the timely exchange of confidential information between collaborating partners regardless of the distance between them.

“The speed of response to incidents plays an important role in saving lives or animals,” says John Zeke, chief research officer at CSIRO. “Thanks to the use of modern technologies within the framework of this project, we expect to more quickly deal with new challenges, while maintaining the high levels of security, confidentiality and trust necessary for effective work.”

“Identity Mixer is a great example of how current legislation on the protection of personal data around the world should not prevent innovation. New solutions can enhance privacy protection with tools that are more user-friendly and accessible to providers, ”Peters adds.

You can try the system in demo mode here .

AU2EU - an association of industrial and scientific partner organizations across Europe and Australia, including Eindhoven Technical University, Philips Electronics Nederland BV, Bicore Services BV, NEC Europe Ltd, IBM Research, German Red Cross, Thales Communications & Security SAS, State Association scientific and applied research, Edith Cowan University, Melbourne Royal University of Technology, University of New South Wales and Macquarie University. Additional information is available at: www.au2eu.eu .

Stay tuned for an Identity Mixer discussion in which IBM scientists and research experts on Twitter are using the #identitymixer hashtag

* Source: ComScore MMX, December 2012 World. Age 15+.
** Tunstall Healthcare is not part of AU2EU, but provides telemedicine consultations for Deutsches Rotes Kreuz.