Privacy Preserving Data Aggregation for Smart Grid with User Anonymity and Designated Recipients

Abstract

Smart grids integrate modern Internet of Things technologies with the traditional grid systems, aiming to achieve effective and reliable electricity distribution as well as promote clean energy development. Nowadays, it is an indispensable infrastructure for smart homes, wisdom medical, intelligent transportation, and various other services. However, when smart meters transmit users’ power consumption data to the control center, sensitive information may be leaked or tampered. Moreover, distributed architecture, fine-grained access control, and user anonymity are also desirable in real-world applications. In this paper, we propose a privacy-preserving data aggregation scheme for a smart grid with user anonymity and designated recipients. Smart meters collect users’ power consumption data, encrypt it using homomorphic re-encryption, and then transmit the ciphertexts anonymously. Afterward, proxies re-encrypt the aggregated data in a distributed fashion so that only the designated recipients can decrypt it. Therefore, our proposed scheme provides a more secure and flexible solution for privacy-preserving data aggregation in smart grids. Security analyses prove that our scheme achieves all the above-mentioned security requirements, and efficiency analyses demonstrate that it is efficient and suitable for real-world applications.