Privacy assessment in vehicular networks using simulation

Vehicular networks are envisioned to play an important role in the building of intelligent transportation systems. However, the dangers of the wireless transmission of potentially exploitable information such as detailed locations are often overlooked or only inadequately addressed in field operational tests or standardization efforts. One of the main reasons for this is that the concept of privacy is difficult to quantify. While vehicular network algorithms are usually evaluated by means of simulation, it is a non-trivial task to assess the performance of a privacy protection mechanism. In this paper we discuss the principles, challenges, and necessary steps in terms of privacy assessment in vehicular networks. We identify useful and practical metrics that allow the comparison and evaluation of privacy protection algorithms. We present a systematic literature review that sheds light on the current state of the art and give recommendations for future research directions in the field.