An optimal query strategy for protecting location privacy in location-based services

Abstract

In this paper, an optimal query strategy is proposed for location privacy in location-based services (LBSs) from a game-theoretic perspective. Distributed location privacy metrics are proposed, and a user-centric model is proposed, in which users make their own decisions to protect their location privacy. In addition, the mobile users’ cooperation is formalized as a query strategy selection optimizing problem by using the framework of Bayesian games. Based on the analysis of Bayesian Nash Equilibria, a User Query Strategy Optimization Algorithm (UQSOA) is designed to help users achieve optimized utilities. We perform simulations to assess the privacy protection effectiveness of our approach and validate the theoretical properties of the UQSOA algorithm.