Securing data accountability in decentralized systems

Abstract

We consider a decentralized setting in which agents exchange data along with usage policies. Agents may violate the intended usage policies, although later on auditing authorities may verify the agents' data accountability with respect to the intended policies. Using time-stamping and signature schemes, we design and analyze an efficient cryptographic protocol generating communication evidences, in such a way that an agent is accountable in our protocol only if the agent behaved honestly. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.