Privacy-Aware Architectures for NFC and RFID Sensors in Healthcare Applications

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Wireless Sensor Networks
• Cybersecurity

Background:

• Rising global population and life expectancy necessitate improved healthcare access and cost-efficiency.
• Next-generation medical sensors, including Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), are key to the Healthcare Internet of Things (H-IoT).
• Point-of-care (PoC) testing offers rapid feedback but requires secure integration with H-IoT systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose novel cloud-based system architectures for secure data management from NFC/RFID medical sensors.
• To address the gap in existing research concerning the security of raw data from the radiofrequency link to cloud sharing.
• To enhance patient privacy and enable secure data sharing within H-IoT environments.

Main Methods:

• Development of two distinct cloud-based system architectures for NFC/RFID medical sensor data.
• Implementation of classical privacy-preserving countermeasures for data collection security.
• Design of data sharing mechanisms with either system-managed or patient-defined access policies.

Main Results:

• Two novel cloud architectures are proposed, enhancing security for NFC/RFID-based H-IoT systems.
• Privacy is ensured during data collection through established countermeasures.
• Flexible data access models are presented, empowering patients in managing their medical information.

Conclusions:

• The proposed architectures offer a secure foundation for NFC/RFID-based healthcare applications, including domestic PoCs.
• This research contributes to advancing the security of wearable wireless sensors in H-IoT.
• The architectures facilitate the deployment and testing of innovative healthcare solutions.