Improving Security and Privacy of Cognitive Digital Twins Through Dynamic Consent for Healthcare and Resilient Societies

Cognitive Digital Twins (CDTs) are virtual models of physical systems that integrate cognitive functions with real-time Internet of Things (IoT) data to support simulation, decision-making, and cyber resilience. In domains such as healthcare and smart cities, CDTs enable advanced capabilities but also introduce significant privacy and security risks, especially due to continuous, real-time data exchange and automated decision-making. This paper presents DC-TWIN, a dynamic consent-enabled CDT framework that addresses the limitations of static, one-time consent models in real-time, data-intensive environments. DC-TWIN introduces a multi-layered architecture consisting of: (i) a multi-layered architectural stack, including user control, policy management, dynamic trust, and data governance layers, that supports compliance monitoring, risk-aware user interfaces, consent history tracking, federated identity and role binding, and adaptive trust modeling, and (ii) a dynamic consent reasoning engine that uses contextual signals (e.g., user role, device status, network activity) and human factors (e.g., cognitive load, trust calibration, fatigue) to assess data access requests in real time, issuing granular decisions (grant, deny, prompt) or escalating for clarification. We highlight key use cases in healthcare, welfare technologies, and smart cities. The framework empowers users with real-time, contextual control over how their data is accessed, shared, and reused through adaptive interfaces and personalized consent mechanisms. By integrating dynamic consent reasoning, trust calibration, and continuous feedback loops, DC-TWIN supports transparent, compliant, and user-aligned data governance. It contributes to the secure and ethical deployment of CDTs by reinforcing user autonomy, enhancing risk communication, and enabling responsive consent management in critical domains such as healthcare.