User-empowered Privacy-preserving Authentication Protocol for Electric Vehicle Charging Based on Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credential

Abstract

The use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) has been gaining traction in recent years due to various reasons. While charging their EVs, users expose their identity and personal details, and an adversary being able to identify and track where users charge their EVs is a potential privacy threat. In this article, we propose a user-empowered privacy-preserving authentication protocol for EV charging based on Decentralized Identifier (DID) and Verifiable Credential (VC) to provide Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP)-security. The proposed method gives users full control over their identities and allows them to remain anonymous while charging from any station. Giving control over their identities empowers users. At the same time, by making use of the concept of VC, other parties can verify that a user is legitimate and authenticate the user before providing charging services. Hence, the proposed protocol makes the charging service available in a secure way, while empowering users and preserving their privacy.