Privacy Issues in the Internet of Things

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue addresses the central challenge of privacy protection in the Internet of Things (IoT), where massive connectivity and continuous data collection create unprecedented risks for individuals and organizations. Traditional security measures are insufficient for resource‑constrained devices, heterogeneous architectures, and dynamic data flows, necessitating novel approaches that integrate technical, regulatory, and ethical perspectives. The main topics we intend to cover span a broad range of privacy‑enhancing technologies and frameworks, including but not limited to privacy‑preserving data aggregation, differential privacy, federated learning for distributed IoT environments, blockchain and distributed ledger solutions, edge/fog computing privacy, location and behavioural privacy, consent management and transparency mechanisms, privacy‑by‑design architectures, AI‑driven privacy threats and countermeasures, and compliance with regulations like GDPR.

We invite original research articles, state‑of‑the‑art reviews, and empirical case studies that offer rigorous theoretical analysis, experimental validation, or deployment experiences. Submissions should provide measurable privacy guarantees, actionable insights, and clear pathways to building trustworthy IoT ecosystems. We especially welcome interdisciplinary contributions that bridge technical innovation with legal and social considerations.

Prof. Dr. Jie Huang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. IoT is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.