{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T22:23:59Z","timestamp":1765232639375,"version":"3.41.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,18]],"date-time":"2018-09-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1537228800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.acm.org\/publications\/policies\/copyright_policy#Background"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["dl.acm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Proc. ACM Interact. Mob. Wearable Ubiquitous Technol."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,18]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper proposes a novel approach to let consumers share data from their existing web accounts and devices easily, securely, and with fine granularity of control. Our proposal is to have our personal virtual assistant be responsible for sharing our digital assets. The owner can specify fine-grain access control in natural language; the virtual assistant executes access requests on behalf of the requesters and returns the results, if the requests conform to the owner's access control policies.<\/jats:p>\n          <jats:p>Specifically, we allow a virtual assistant to share any ThingTalk command--an event-driven task composed of skills drawn from Thingpedia, a crowdsourced repository with over 200 functions currently. Access control in natural language is translated into TACL, a formal language we introduce to let users express for whom, what, when, where, and how ThingTalk commands can be executed. TACL policies are in turn translated into SMT (Satisfiability Modulo Theories) formulas and enforced using a provably correct algorithm. Our Distributed ThingTalk Protocol lets users access their own and others' data through their own virtual assistant, while enabling sharing without disclosing information to a third party.<\/jats:p>\n          <jats:p>The proposed ideas have been incorporated and released in the open-source Almond virtual assistant. 18 of the 20 users in a study say that they like the concept proposed, and 14 like the prototype. We show that users are more willing to share their data given the ability to impose TACL constraints, that 90% of enforceable use cases suggested by 60 users are supported by TACL, and that static and dynamic conformance of policies can be enforced efficiently.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1145\/3264905","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,19]],"date-time":"2018-09-19T11:58:41Z","timestamp":1537358321000},"page":"1-28","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Controlling Fine-Grain Sharing in Natural Language with a Virtual Assistant"],"prefix":"10.1145","volume":"2","author":[{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Campagna","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Stanford University, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Silei","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stanford University, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rakesh","family":"Ramesh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stanford University, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Fischer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stanford University, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Monica S.","family":"Lam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Stanford University, Computer Science Department, Stanford, CA, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"320","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","unstructured":"Amazon. 2017. Amazon Alexa. https:\/\/developer.amazon.com\/alexa.  Amazon. 2017. Amazon Alexa. https:\/\/developer.amazon.com\/alexa."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","volume-title":"First International Workshop on Design and Implementation of Formal Tools and Systems (DIFTS@FMCAD","author":"Arkoudas Konstantine","year":"2011","unstructured":"Konstantine Arkoudas , Ritu Chadha , and C Jason Chiang . 2011 . An Application of Formal Methods to Cognitive Radios .. In First International Workshop on Design and Implementation of Formal Tools and Systems (DIFTS@FMCAD 2011). Konstantine Arkoudas, Ritu Chadha, and C Jason Chiang. 2011. An Application of Formal Methods to Cognitive Radios.. In First International Workshop on Design and Implementation of Formal Tools and Systems (DIFTS@FMCAD 2011)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2595222"},{"volume-title":"Security and Trust Management","author":"Armando Alessandro","key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","unstructured":"Alessandro Armando and Silvio Ranise . 2011. Automated Symbolic Analysis of ARBAC-Policies . In Security and Trust Management . Springer Berlin Heidelberg , 17--34. Alessandro Armando and Silvio Ranise. 2011. Automated Symbolic Analysis of ARBAC-Policies. In Security and Trust Management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 17--34."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2465106.2465121"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","unstructured":"Various Authors. 2017. Thingpedia - knowledge for your virtual assistant. https:\/\/thingpedia.stanford.edu  Various Authors. 2017. Thingpedia - knowledge for your virtual assistant. https:\/\/thingpedia.stanford.edu"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5555\/2032305.2032319"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","unstructured":"Clark Barrett Pascal Fontaine and Cesare Tinelli. 2016. The Satisfiability Modulo Theories Library (SMT-LIB). http:\/\/www.smt-lib.org.  Clark Barrett Pascal Fontaine and Cesare Tinelli. 2016. The Satisfiability Modulo Theories Library (SMT-LIB). http:\/\/www.smt-lib.org."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_1","volume-title":"Satisfiability Modulo Theories. Handbook of satisfiability 185","author":"Barrett Clark W","year":"2009","unstructured":"Clark W Barrett , Roberto Sebastiani , Sanjit A Seshia , and Cesare Tinelli . 2009. Satisfiability Modulo Theories. Handbook of satisfiability 185 ( 2009 ), 825--885. Clark W Barrett, Roberto Sebastiani, Sanjit A Seshia, and Cesare Tinelli. 2009. Satisfiability Modulo Theories. Handbook of satisfiability 185 (2009), 825--885."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1357054.1357143"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1065010.1065047"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3038912.3052562"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/EuroSP.2017.27"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/3229434.3229481"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1247480.1247508"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_1","unstructured":"Google. 2018. Google Assistant - Just Say \"Hey Google\" and Make Google Do It. https:\/\/assistant.google.com\/.  Google. 2018. Google Assistant - Just Say \"Hey Google\" and Make Google Do It. https:\/\/assistant.google.com\/."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/2295136.2295170"},{"volume-title":"Web Technologies and Applications","author":"Kaiwen Sun","key":"e_1_2_1_19_1","unstructured":"Sun Kaiwen and Yin Lihua . 2014. Attribute-Role-Based Hybrid Access Control in the Internet of Things . In Web Technologies and Applications . Springer International Publishing , 333--343. Sun Kaiwen and Yin Lihua. 2014. Attribute-Role-Based Hybrid Access Control in the Internet of Things. In Web Technologies and Applications. Springer International Publishing, 333--343."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/MC.2010.155"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_21_1","volume-title":"Just ASK: Building an Architecture for Extensible Self-Service Spoken Language Understanding. CoRR abs\/1711.00549","author":"Kumar Anjishnu","year":"2017","unstructured":"Anjishnu Kumar , Arpit Gupta , Julian Chan , Sam Tucker , Bj\u00f6rn Hoffmeister , and Markus Dreyer . 2017. Just ASK: Building an Architecture for Extensible Self-Service Spoken Language Understanding. CoRR abs\/1711.00549 ( 2017 ). arXiv:1711.00549 http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1711.00549 Anjishnu Kumar, Arpit Gupta, Julian Chan, Sam Tucker, Bj\u00f6rn Hoffmeister, and Markus Dreyer. 2017. Just ASK: Building an Architecture for Extensible Self-Service Spoken Language Understanding. CoRR abs\/1711.00549 (2017). arXiv:1711.00549 http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1711.00549"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-24246-0_9"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_23_1","unstructured":"Matrix.org Foundation. 2017. Matrix -- An open network for secure decentralized communication. https:\/\/matrix.org.  Matrix.org Foundation. 2017. Matrix -- An open network for secure decentralized communication. https:\/\/matrix.org."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2005.04.009"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_25_1","unstructured":"Tim Moses et al. 2005. Extensible access control markup language (xacml) version 2.0. Oasis Standard 200502 (2005).  Tim Moses et al. 2005. Extensible access control markup language (xacml) version 2.0. Oasis Standard 200502 (2005)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1357054.1357285"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ravi S. Sandhu. 1998. Role-based Access Control. (1998) 237--286.  Ravi S. Sandhu. 1998. Role-based Access Control. (1998) 237--286.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0065-2458(08)60206-5"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1810931.1810939"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1572532.1572552"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_30_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5555\/2414338.2414343"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_31_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cose.2017.01.009"},{"volume-title":"Proceedings of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics and the 7th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing (Volume 1: Long Papers)","author":"Wang Yushi","key":"e_1_2_1_32_1","unstructured":"Yushi Wang , Jonathan Berant , and Percy Liang . 2015. Building a Semantic Parser Overnight . In Proceedings of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics and the 7th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing (Volume 1: Long Papers) . Association for Computational Linguistics , 1332--1342. Yushi Wang, Jonathan Berant, and Percy Liang. 2015. Building a Semantic Parser Overnight. In Proceedings of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics and the 7th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing (Volume 1: Long Papers). Association for Computational Linguistics, 1332--1342."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_33_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1145\/1629575.1629604"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_34_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/ICWS.2005.25"}],"container-title":["Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3264905","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1145\/3264905","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,18]],"date-time":"2025-06-18T02:07:59Z","timestamp":1750212479000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dl.acm.org\/doi\/10.1145\/3264905"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,18]]},"references-count":33,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,18]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1145\/3264905"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1145\/3264905","relation":{},"ISSN":["2474-9567"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2474-9567"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,18]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2018-02-01","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2018-09-01","order":1,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2018-09-18","order":2,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}