Fair and Privacy-Respecting Bitcoin Payments for Smart Grid Data

Abstract

In this article, we present DPTS, a data payment and transfer the scheme that uses bitcoin payments to reward users for detailed electricity measurements they submit to a utility provider (UP). DPTS emphasizes both privacy and fairness of transactions; not only it allows participants to earn bitcoins in a way that cannot be linked to their actions or identities but also ensures that data are delivered if and only if an appropriate payment is received. While DPTS is described in the smart grid setting, the protocol can also be applied in other areas where incentives are used to increase user participation. One such important area is participatory or crowdsensing, where individuals use their smartphones to report sensed data back to a campaign administrator and obtain a reward for it. DPTS allows users to enjoy the benefits of participation without compromising anonymity. The proposal is coupled with a security analysis showing the privacy-preserving character of the system along with an efficiency analysis demonstrating the feasibility of our approach.