Privacy, security and policies: A review of problems and solutions with semantic web technologies

Abstract

Semantic Web technologies aim to simplify the distribution, sharing and exploitation of information and knowledge, across multiple distributed actors on the Web. As with all technologies that manipulate information, there are privacy and security implications, and data policies (e.g., licenses and regulations) that may apply to both data and software artifacts. Additionally, semantic web technologies could contribute to the more intelligent and flexible handling of privacy, security and policy issues, through supporting information integration and sense-making. In order to better understand the scope of existing work on this topic we examine 78 articles from dedicated venues, including this special issue, the PrivOn workshop series, two SPOT workshops, as well as the broader literature that connects the Semantic Web research domain with issues relating to privacy, security and/or policies. Specifically, we classify each paper according to three taxonomies (one for each of the aforementioned areas), in order to identify common trends and research gaps. We conclude by summarising the strong focus on relevant topics in Semantic Web research (e.g. information collection, information processing, policies and access control), and by highlighting the need to further explore under-represented topics (e.g., malware detection, fraud detection, and supporting policy validation by data consumers).