Handling personalized redirection in a wireless pervasive computing system with different approaches to identity

One important feature of a wireless pervasive computing system is to ensure that any incoming communication addressed to the user is dealt with according to the user's wishes - sent to an appropriate device, forwarded to another user, stored, etc. This is referred to as personalized redirection of communication. To do this it is necessary to maintain a profile of user preferences. However, in doing so, there is a natural risk to the security and privacy of the user. This paper considers two systems - one developed specifically to study personalized redirection and the other a wireless pervasive computing system which incorporates some of these ideas. Three different approaches to handling user identity that have been adopted in these two systems are described. The effects of these different approaches on personalization and the consequences for security and privacy in a wireless pervasive computing environment are discussed and compared. © 2006 IEEE.