Disseminating Location Privacy Threats and Protection Techniques through Capture-the-Flag Games (Vision Paper)

Recent years witnessed a tremendous growth in the area of mobile computing. Users with mobile devices are able to access services customized to their geographical coordinates, and to engage in complex interactions with other users in their proximity. However, in addition to its many benefits, sharing location with service providers and other users also introduces serious privacy threats. If not properly addressed, the loss of location privacy can bring significant harm to mobile users. Currently, there is a low level of awareness among mobile users, and even among computer professionals, with respect to the contingent threats on location privacy, and to the approaches available to mitigate such threats. We envision GeoCTF, an educational capture-the-flag (CTF) - style game designed to raise the level of awareness about the dangers of uncontrolled sharing of location data, and to illustrate prominent location protection techniques. The game-based approach of GeoCTF makes it an effective and engaging educational tool, suitable for high-school and University students, as well as computer-literate general population mobile users.