2012 Secure and transferables e-tickets

A new and innovative electronic tickets system has been developed by researchers of the University of the Balearic Islands and the University Rovira i Virgili. This system is based upon a technology that uses mobile devices as a communication platform among sellers and buyers. The e-Ticket is secure and efficient and provides an alternative solution to the use of classic paper tickets.

QRF

Electronic transactions often include a phase of payment, including the option of using bank cards or using electronic money. Privacy and security are requirements that all users want in order to perform these operations. Electronic tickets (e-tickets) represent the purchase of a service and denote the right to use it with the ability to transfer them safely.

Description

Our solution uses cryptographic techniques in order to achieve the main security requirements for the system. Group signatures enable the users of a certain group to sign as a group member without need to reveal the real identity. This feature can give anonymity to the users of a system that could adopt this cryptographic primitive. However, the bad use of this group signature scheme should be penalized. To achieve so, revocable group signatures could be used and then a trusted authority (e.g. police or security forces) could have the right to revoke a determined group signature and adopt the considered actions. This way, if a ticket has been transferred and somebody misbehaved, a trusted authority could identify which is the part of the chain that misbehaved and identify him/her.

Our scheme has also been thought to be used in mobile devices in order to make it really practical either for users and entities of the system. In this direction, the use of the mobile devices as a smartcard in order to perform secure transactions is a trend that is more used recently. Near Field Communication is a communication technology which our solution could adopt to be used in a real system with mobile devices, and where the tickets could be stored in. However, the system can be deployed without the NFC technology.

Main advantages

  • The system proposed is configurable and it can be used in different services
  • The system offers the same properties of the paper tickets and the bennefits of the e-tickets. For example, customers are able to book everywhere, even without a printer
  • Tickets can be bought and used immediately
  • The system allows easier and faster communication between the customers and the company. Companies save resources and speed up the management process
  • Moreover, our solution is practical, either for users and entities. That gives a commercial advantage in comparison to other solutions, because security has been considered an essential part of the system. For example, the anonymity for users enables the acceptance of the system to be in a high ratio
  • Finally, the transferability of the tickets between users until its use, assuring that any misbehaviour could be identified and penalised if needed

Innovations

The use of Information Technologies (IT) in the day-by-day operations is growing dramatically. Nowadays, it is possible to perform a lot of actions at home and there are not temporal restrictions. The electronic tickets are an example, we can buy a transport ticket or a movie ticket. In this sense, the smart-phones are a key element because users can buy the e-ticket from any place and can carry tickets while they are moving, and validate them in order to get access to the service. Moreover, the e-ticketing systems must offer the same properties of the paper tickets, i.e. they must be secure, anonymous and transferable. Our system provides a secure method that is anonymous and that allows the ticket transferability between users.

The e-ticketing system proposed can be used in differents services, so that service providers can adapt the system in order to meet their requirements. The system provides to the users the same properties of some of the paper tickets. The tickets are anonymous and users can transfer them to other users without the interaction of the ticket issuer or the provider.

The privacy for the users must be seriously taken into account. The acceptance of a system that could control all the movements of a determined user could lead to a privacy threat. Thus, the users could be reluctant to use a system without the proper privacy protection. Moreover, each user could send her ticket and grant permission to another user. Nonetheless, if one user does some fraud the anonymity can be revoked and the user is identified.

The system can be deployed in the cloud for the service providers. The users can use their smart-phones to obtain, use or transfer the e-tickets.

Actual State

The method and use of the e-Ticket is protected by a patent and available for license. Their applications are:  

  • Electronic Commerce
  • Transportation & Logistics systems
  • Tourism applications
  • Sports & Leisure events
  • Access Control systems
  • Mobile Applications
     

Desired cooperation: The e-ticketing system proposed can be used in differents services, so that service providers can adapt the system in order to meet their requirements. The system provides to the users the same properties of the paper tickets. The tickets are anonymous and users can transfer them between them without the interaction of the ticket issuer or the provider.

In collaboration with:

Logotipus del Ministeri de Ciència, Innovació i Universitats