Enhanced Presence Handling

The global use of the Internet and modern mobile/cellular communications networks has made ubiquitous communications possible for millions of people worldwide. However, these technologies can interrupt our daily activities through uncontrolled, unwanted disturbances. Such negative effects can be lessened by using context information and presence technology to inform others of our availability for communication. By nature context information can be sensitive and a commodity which its owner values highly. It thus becomes important to assess the impact of releasing such information on personal privacy. This can vary widely, depending on various factors. In this paper the authors review presence technology as a means to control unwanted disturbances. We consider the privacy implications and propose an enhanced presence processing model which leverages Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) principles as well as a new concept, “Availability Profiles”. We present the model incrementally over three progressive and logical stages.