I dOn’T(Z)Know: An Architecture for Zero-Knowledge Cross-Platform IoT Applications

Presentation given at IoTBDS 2026, 11th International Conference on Internet of Things, Big Data and Security, Benidorm, Spain, May 2026.

ABSTRACT: The Internet of Things (IoT) fosters connected environments where devices interact with one another and with users to enable context-aware applications. End-user authoring tools empower individuals to create personalised automations, such as health-related rules that respond to physiological metrics. However, these tools are often tied to specific vendors, limiting the portability of user-defined automations across platforms. This restriction poses significant challenges in domains like healthcare, where users may depend on such automations for daily assistance. To address this issue, in our recent research, we have proposed a write once, run anywhere paradigm to enable rule portability across heterogeneous IoT environments. While this approach improves continuity, it also raises privacy concerns, as user data may be exposed during the migration of automations between platforms. In this paper, we address some of these privacy challenges by introducing a representative user scenario, analysing related work and proposing a privacy-preserving IoT architecture (IOT-ZK) that makes use of zero-knowledge proofs, along with a proof-of-concept implementation. Our proposed solution supports secure and portable automation across IoT platforms, with particular emphasis on safeguarding user data in sensitive domains such as healthcare.

Research paper: https://beatsigner.com/publications/i-dont-zknow-an-architecture-for-zero-knowledge-cross-platform-iot-applications.pdf

Transcript

1. I dOn’T(Z)Know: An Architecture for Zero-Knowledge Cross-Platform IoT Applications Ekene Attoh and Beat Signer Web & Information Systems Engineering Lab Vrije Universiteit Brussel 1
2. 2 User Scenario Mildred Automation Rules If time is 19:00pm, Then set smart thermostat to 21 degrees If ..., Then... If ..., Then...
3. Home IoT platform Foreign IoT platform automation rules ?? ?? Motivation 3
4. 4 Write Once Run Anwywere Approach
5. Home IoT platform Foreign IoT platform automation rules ?? ?? If Time is X, Then... 5 Privacy Problem
6. IoT-ZK High-Level Architecture 6
7. IoT-ZK Secure Translation 7
8. If time is 19:00pm, Then set smart thermostat to 21 degrees ZKP Translation Module Commitment value, Proof Object If time is [0x1334e88d964aab9fcfd5f0 8013f49db3ea97e6c.....], Then increase temperature [0xaf5b20e129959b4396 601138f5fe33c2eafbe92 6f56eae3d99f3e4...] initial rule rule with commitment value corresponding proof object + IoT-ZK Rule non-trusted pod 8
9. If time is [0x1334e88d964aab9 fcfd5f08013f49db3ea 97e6c.....], Then increase temperature [0xaf5b20e129959b43 96601138f5fe33c2eafb e926f56eae3d99f3e4...] rule with commitment value corresponding proof object + IoT-ZK Execution Foreign IoT platform read zk-rule verify zk-rule execute zk-rule non-trusted pod 9
10. Home IoT platform Foreign IoT platform automation rules 10 Conclusions If time is [0x1334e88d964aab9f cfd5f08013f49db3ea9 7e6c.....], Then increase temperature [0xaf5b20e129959b43 96601138f5fe33c2eaf be926f56eae3d99f3e4 ...] + Privacy-preserving Cross-Platform IoT Approach
11. 11 Future Work User study and evaluation with IoT platform developers End-to-end system implementation End-user system evaluation