Files
ruvnet--RuView/docs/research/privacy-shield/README.md
T
Claude 006a66ca20 Hyper-optimize VEIL shield: derive the optimal config instead of hand-picking it
Adds an `optimize` module that replaces the hand-picked shield config with a
derived, robustness-verified optimum, and hardens the experiment so the
collapse is proven to be signal-level, not classifier-level.

Model changes:
- throughput.rs: add a feedback-airtime term (cost rises with feedback bits)
  alongside the falling quantization residual, giving a genuine interior
  throughput optimum in feedback resolution.
- attacker.rs: add a selectable distance metric (Euclidean + Cosine) so the
  optimizer can require the collapse to hold under multiple classifiers.
- experiment.rs: thread the attacker metric through; build the channel once.

optimize.rs:
- optimal_feedback_bits / spec_optimal_feedback_bits: throughput-best resolution
  (3 bits unconstrained, matching DySPAN-2026; 5 bits within the 802.11 {5,7,9}
  set).
- min_givens_passes: smallest mixing budget that collapses re-ID robustly across
  both metrics AND N in {16,32}.
- pareto_frontier and hyper_optimize.

Findings and adopted defaults:
- Proven-minimum robust passes = 48; the hand-picked 112 was 2.3x over-
  provisioned. Rotation mixing is keyed (never signaled), so extra passes are
  throughput-free -> ship 96 (2x margin).
- Feedback resolution 5 bits (spec-optimal), down from 7.
- ShieldConfig::default() now equals hyper_optimize()'s output; a test guards
  against drift.

Net vs. the original: strictly better on BOTH privacy and throughput.
Reference (SYNTHETIC/L0, N=16): re-ID 100% shield-off -> 4.7% shield-on
(chance 6.25%, below chance), throughput 97.6%, energy ratio 1.000000. 35 tests
+ doctest pass; clippy -D warnings clean; builds for wasm32.

Docs: new docs/research/privacy-shield/08-optimization.md; updated bundle
README/03/05/07 and ADR-288 with the derived operating point.

Co-Authored-By: claude-flow <ruv@ruv.net>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WEXNqzs7UsfNFBcP5yW21p
2026-08-09 14:08:46 +00:00

101 lines
6.1 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
# Privacy Shield Research Bundle — VEIL
**VEIL** (Verifiable Emission-shaping for Identity-Leakage prevention) is a
privacy *firewall* for WiFi sensing: it prevents unauthorized identity and
activity inference from a room's WiFi while preserving normal communications. It
is the **countermeasure** counterpart to [BFLD](../BFLD/) — where BFLD *detects*
when beamforming feedback becomes identifying, VEIL *acts* by shaping the node's
own compliant waveform (channel sounding, precoder phase, beam/feedback
schedules) so identity and activity inference fail, while a legitimate receiver
sees an essentially unchanged link.
**This must use compliant waveform controls, never jamming.** Every technique
here operates on the defender's *own* legitimately transmitted, standards-
conformant frames. Nothing adds energy to interfere with another station's
transmission (the statutory definition of jamming, 47 U.S.C. §333/§302a).
---
## Table of contents
| File | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| [01-sota-survey.md](01-sota-survey.md) | State of the art: identity/activity inference attacks (BFI + CSI), the IEEE 802.11bf-2025 standard, and privacy-preserving countermeasures |
| [02-threat-model.md](02-threat-model.md) | Adversary classes, what VEIL defends and what it explicitly does not, trust boundary |
| [03-countermeasure-design.md](03-countermeasure-design.md) | The compliant waveform controls, the separable-subspace principle, keyed Givens-rotation shield, and how it maps to the crate |
| [04-compliance-and-regulatory.md](04-compliance-and-regulatory.md) | The legal line between compliant waveform control and jamming, with statutory citations |
| [05-experiment-protocol.md](05-experiment-protocol.md) | The attacker-vs-protector experiment: metrics, acceptance bar, reproducer, and results |
| [06-market-and-buyers.md](06-market-and-buyers.md) | First buyers, procurement drivers, competitive landscape, and the standards-body gap |
| [07-implementation-and-roadmap.md](07-implementation-and-roadmap.md) | Crate layout, reuse map, hardware path, phased rollout, and open problems |
| [08-optimization.md](08-optimization.md) | Hyper-optimization: throughput-optimal feedback resolution, minimum robust mixing budget, Pareto frontier, and the adopted config |
Formal decision: [ADR-288](../../adr/ADR-288-veil-privacy-shield-compliant-waveform.md).
Reference implementation: [`v2/crates/wifi-densepose-privshield`](../../../v2/crates/wifi-densepose-privshield).
---
## Executive summary
1. **The threat is real and now standardized.** IEEE 802.11ac/ax beamforming
feedback (BFI) — the compressed Givens-rotation angle matrices (φ/ψ) a client
sends the AP — travels **unencrypted on the management plane**. Any device in
monitor mode can capture it for every client at once, no network access, and
the target need carry no device. **BFId** (KIT, ACM CCS 2025) re-identifies
individuals from BFI alone; **LeakyBeam** (NDSS 2025) detects occupancy
through walls at ~20 m from BFI; **BeamSense** recognizes activities at up to
99.28% from BFI. IEEE Std **802.11bf-2025** (published 26 Sep 2025)
standardizes the sensing measurement/feedback surface these attacks abuse.
2. **The standards body declined to fix it.** A 2023 proposal for a BFI
"secure transmission mechanism" (IEEE 802.11-23/0782) was **withdrawn**
the working group did not align on characterizing sensing privacy as a
distinct problem. 802.11bf shipped without privacy protections. This is the
single strongest demand signal: the gap is structural and acknowledged.
3. **No targeted anti-sensing product ships (as of 2026).** Every countermeasure
in the literature — IRShield, PhyCloak, MIMOCrypt, DP-Givens dithering,
ScatterShield — is research-stage. The only shipping substitute is broadband
RF shielding (SCIF/TEMPEST film/paint), which is blunt: it kills *all* RF and
cannot coexist with wanted WiFi. The whitespace is a **selective, coexisting,
software/PHY** shield.
4. **The VEIL mechanism.** Identity leaks through the *fine* cross-subcarrier
phase structure of a beamforming report; throughput rides the *dominant*
beam direction. These are (mostly) separable subspaces. VEIL composes extra
**keyed Givens rotations** over the fine subspace only. The rotation is
*orthogonal* (energy-preserving ⇒ not jamming), *keyed per session* (the
legitimate receiver inverts it ⇒ throughput preserved), and *fresh each
session* (a sniffer cannot average it back ⇒ re-ID collapses to chance).
5. **Measured on the reference model (SYNTHETIC), at the hyper-optimized
operating point.** On the default synthetic scene (16 candidate identities),
a passive re-identifier scores **100% with the shield off** and **4.7% with
it on** (chance = 6.25%), while modeled link throughput stays at **97.6%** of
baseline and the emission energy ratio is **1.000000** (compliant). The shield
config is chosen by the `optimize` module — 96 Givens passes (2× the proven-
minimum 48 for robust collapse across both attacker metrics and N∈{16,32}) at
5-bit feedback resolution — not hand-picked (see
[08-optimization.md](08-optimization.md)). Reproduce:
`cargo test -p wifi-densepose-privshield`.
6. **Scope, honestly.** VEIL defends against a *third-party passive sniffer*. It
does **not** hide identity from the associated AP (that party holds the key)
— that is BFLD's detection/policy problem. VEIL is a reference model, not
hardware: real-silicon validation (per CLAUDE.md) is future work with a
captured-log witness.
---
## Evidence discipline
Per repository policy, every quantitative claim is tagged:
- **MEASURED** — from a cited primary source with its metric and conditions.
- **CLAIMED** — asserted by a source (vendor PR, press, standards minutes)
without an independent measurement.
- **SYNTHETIC** — produced by VEIL's own deterministic model; reproduced by
`cargo test`, describing the model and not real hardware.
WiFi sensing is never presented here as camera-grade, and no VEIL result implies
a defense guarantee on real silicon until a hardware witness exists.