Real-world Deployment of Privacy-Enhancing Authentication System using Attribute-based Credentials

Abstract

With the daily increase in digitalization and integration of the physical and digital worlds, we need to better protect users’ privacy and identity. Attribute-based Credentials (ABCs) seem to be a promising technology for this task. In this paper, we provide comprehensive analyses of the readiness, maturity, and applicability of ABCs to real-world applications. Furthermore, we introduce our PrivacyEnhancing Authentication System (PEAS), which is based on ABCs and meets all privacy requirements such as anonymity and unlinkability of the user’s activities. Besides privacy features, PEAS also provides revocation mechanisms to identify and revoke malicious users. The system is suitable for deployment in real-world scenarios and runs on a wide range of user devices (e.g., smart cards, smartphones, and wearables).