A privacy-aware zero interaction smart mobility system

Smart cities often rely on technological innovations to improve citizens’ safety and quality of life. This paper presents a novel smart mobility system that facilitates people’s access to public mobility while preserving their privacy. In contrast to several well-known smart mobility systems discussed in this paper, the one we propose combines privacy guarantees with user friendliness. Specifically, the system is based on a zero-interaction approach whereby a person can use public transport services without any need to perform explicit actions. Operations related to ticket purchases and validation were fully automated. The system is also designed with the privacy-by-design paradigm to preserve user privacy as much as possible. Throughout the paper, several technical details are discussed as well to describe a prototype version of the system that was implemented. The prototype was successfully tested in the city of Imola (Emilia Romagna, Italy) to prove the validity of the system in the field.