A Flexible Location-Based Access Control System for Mobile Devices

Abstract

Modern smart devices are equipped with advanced sensors (e.g., camera, microphone, geolocation) and run applications that extensively utilize these capabilities. However, in sensitive environments, unauthorized access to such features poses significant privacy and security risks. To address this challenge, this dissertation presents a unified location-based access control framework developed through two complementary research efforts. The first contribution introduces I Control My Space (ICMS), a flexible and fine-grained access control system that allows space owners to define and enforce restrictions on specific applications and permissions based on physical space ownership. ICMS uses a centralized server to distribute policies, which are then transparently enforced on user devices without requiring interaction, while preserving user location privacy. To remove reliance on centralized trust, the second contribution presents a decentralized solution that leverages Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon technology. It introduces the Jumbo Beacon concept, which enables fragmented transmission and secure reassembly of signed access control policies across multiple BLE packets. Policies are delivered and enforced locally on the mobile device, eliminating the need for infrastructure-based connectivity. Moreover, the BLE-based design supports advanced use cases such as dwell-time enforcement, path-based access control, and flexible infrastructure-free deployment. Together, these contributions offer a scalable, secure, and adaptable solution for enforcing context-aware access control in real-world dynamic environments.

Date of Award	2026
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Science and Engineering