Information sharing system, information sharing method, and program

Abstract

To appropriately share information about users in a plurality of processes.SOLUTION: An information sharing system S comprises a browsing condition management section 452, a determination section 453, and a browsing control section 454. The browsing condition management section 452 manages a browsing condition of health information, which is information about a user's health, on the basis of setting of the user. When a browsing request for first health information, which is at least part of the health information and health information used for processing by a first processing device 10, is received from a second processing device 20, the determination section 453 determines whether to permit browsing on the basis of the browsing condition managed by the browsing condition management section 452. The browsing control section 454 causes the second processing device 20 to browse the first health information if the determination section 453 permits the browsing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information sharing system, an information sharing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are known techniques for managing various pieces of information relating to a user and utilizing the information. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for analyzing a user's lifestyle pattern based on the user's health information. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 makes it possible to score the quality of the user's lifestyle pattern based on information such as the user's exercise time and bedtime, and present the score to the user. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-175337 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the general technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, information about a user is managed only for the purpose of performing a certain specific process (for example, a process of scoring a user's life pattern). In other words, when performing a plurality of various processes other than a certain specific process, it was not anticipated that information about the user would be shared among these processes.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to appropriately share information about a user among a plurality of processes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, an information sharing system according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: A management means for managing viewing conditions of health information, which is information related to a user's health, based on settings of the user; a determination means for determining whether or not to permit viewing of first health information based on the viewing conditions managed by the management means when a request to view first health information, which is at least a part of the health information and is used for processing by the first processing means, is received from the second processing means; a viewing means for allowing the second processing means to view the first health information when viewing is permitted by the determination means; The present invention is characterized by comprising: Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to appropriately share information about a user among a plurality of processes. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overview of a process in which an information sharing system S according to an embodiment of the present invention appropriately shares information about a user among a plurality of processes. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an information sharing system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 8 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an information processing device 800 constituting each device included in an information sharing system S. FIG. [Figure 4] 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a first processor 10. FIG. [Diagram 5] 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a second processing device 20. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a user terminal 30. [Figure 7] 11 is a table showing an example of viewing conditions that are set by a user terminal 30 and are managed by an information management device 40. [Figure 8] 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information management device 40. FIG. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations performed by the first processor 10 during processing for sharing information. [Figure 10] 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations performed by the second processor 20 during processing for sharing information. [Figure 11] 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of information sharing processing executed by the user terminal 30. [Figure 12] 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations during processing for information sharing executed by the information management device 40. [Figure 13] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a terminal operation screen 60 displayed on a user terminal 30 when registering user information or setting browsing conditions. FIG. [Figure 14] 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a viewing screen displayed on the second processing device 20 when viewing information is output. FIG. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the viewing screen displayed on the second processing device 20 when viewing information is output. [Figure 16] 13 is a table showing an example of user management information and an example of viewing conditions managed by an information management device 40 in a fifth modification. [Figure 17] 20 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations during processing for information sharing executed by information management device 40 in Modification 6. [Figure 18] 20 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations during processing for information sharing executed by user terminal 30 in Modification 6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] [Processing overview] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overview of a process in which an information sharing system S according to an embodiment of the present invention appropriately shares information about a user among a plurality of processes. Fig. 1 shows schematic diagrams of main components of the information sharing system S and main information exchanged between these components.

[0011] The information sharing system S includes a first processing device 10, a second processing device 20, a user terminal 30, and an information management device 40. These components of the information sharing system S are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other.

[0012] Next, an overview of the processing performed by the information sharing system S will be described. The first processing device 10 controls a first process executed in the user terminal 30 ("(1) Controls first process" in the drawing).

[0013] The user terminal 30 executes a first process based on the control of the first processing device 10, and in response to this, acquires first information that is at least a part of the information related to the user ("(2) Acquire first information" in the figure). The first processing device 10 also transmits the acquired first information to the user terminal 30 ("(3) Transmit first information" in the figure). The first processing device 10 manages this acquired first information.

[0014] Furthermore, the user terminal 30 sets viewing conditions for viewing the first information in the information management device 40 ("(4) Set viewing information" in the figure). The viewing conditions can be set arbitrarily by the user who uses the user terminal 30 based on his or her own will.

[0015] On the other hand, the second processing device 20 executes a second process which is a process different from the first process. In this case, the second processing device 20 may acquire second information which is at least a part of information related to the user. This second processing device 20 is used, for example, by another person related to the user who uses the user terminal 30. Based on a request by this other person to view the first information, the second processing device 20 transmits a request to view the first information to the information management device 40 ("(5) Transmit View Request" in the figure).

[0016] When the information management device 40 receives the viewing request, it determines whether or not to permit viewing based on the set viewing conditions. If it determines that viewing is permitted, the information management device 40 transmits an instruction to transmit the information to be viewed to the first processing device 10 ("(6) Instruction to transmit information to be viewed" in the figure).

[0017] The first processing device 10 generates the information to be viewed in response to the instruction to transmit the information to be viewed. This information to be viewed is generated by extracting at least a part of the first information and converting it into a predetermined format suitable for viewing. Then, the first processing device 10 transmits the generated information to be viewed to the information management device 40 ("(7) Transmit information to be viewed" in the figure).

[0018] The information management device 40 transmits the received viewing information to the second processing device 20 ("(8) Transmit viewing information" in the figure). This allows other people to view the viewing information corresponding to the first information on the second processing device 20.

[0019] In this way, the information sharing system S realizes information sharing by allowing the first information handled by the first processing device 10 to be viewed in the second processing device 20 that performs other processing. In this case, the information sharing system S does not allow the second processing device 20 to view the information without restrictions, but determines whether or not the information can be viewed based on viewing conditions set by the user himself. This allows the user to freely select where to view information related to himself / herself. Furthermore, the information sharing system S can share information across multiple processes while improving the confidentiality and availability of the information by reflecting such a selection based on the user's will.

[0020] Furthermore, according to the information sharing system S, the viewing conditions can be managed in a centralized manner by the information management device 40. Therefore, the first processing device 10 and the second processing device 20 do not need to perform processes such as managing the viewing conditions and determining whether or not to permit viewing.

[0021] Furthermore, according to the information sharing system S, the first information itself is not viewed, but rather the viewing information obtained by extracting and converting the first information is viewed. This achieves the purpose of viewing on the second processing device 20, and prevents the first health information itself from being edited erroneously in the information management device 40 or the second processing device 20, or from being tampered with in a communication path, etc. Therefore, the information about the user can be protected more appropriately while improving the integrity of the information.

[0022] In this way, according to the information sharing system S according to the embodiment of the present invention, information about a user can be appropriately shared among a plurality of processes.

[0023] The above describes an overview of the processing by the information sharing system S. Next, the details of the information sharing system S for realizing such processing will be described below.

[0024] [System Configuration] 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an information sharing system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the information sharing system S includes a plurality of first processing devices 10, a plurality of second processing devices 20, a user terminal 30, and a plurality of information management devices 40. These components of the information sharing system S are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network N. This network N is realized by, for example, the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0025] Here, i, j, and k written at the end of the reference numerals of these components are each any integer value equal to or greater than 1. That is, the number of the first processing device 10, the second processing device 20, and the information management device 40 is not particularly limited. Also, although only one user terminal 30 is illustrated, the number is not particularly limited. In the following description, when multiple identical components are described without distinction, the suffix of the reference numeral will be omitted. For example, when the first processors 10-1, . . . , 10-i are described without distinction, the suffix of the reference numeral will be omitted and they will simply be referred to as the first processor 10.

[0026] Also, as an example for the purposes of explanation, it is assumed that the information about the user (corresponding to the first information and second information described above with reference to Figure 1) is "health information," which is information about the user's health. Here, health information is assumed to include not only information obtained from general health checkups, such as the user's height, weight, blood pressure, etc., but also a variety of other health and medical information, such as information on diet, sleep, exercise intensity, etc. in daily life, various measured biometric information, instructions regarding medical diagnosis and treatment, pharmaceutical instructions and instructions regarding medication, and observations related to rehabilitation and daily life assistance.

[0027] Among various types of personal information, such health information is required to be handled with particular care. For this reason, it is desirable to process information about a user in a system that can appropriately share information about the user in multiple processes, such as the information sharing system S. For this reason, it is assumed that health information is the information about the user. However, this is merely an example for the purpose of explanation and is not intended to limit the scope of application of this embodiment.

[0028] The first processing device 10 is used by a business providing application software (hereinafter referred to as "app") corresponding to the first process, and is configured by an information processing device such as a server computer managed by the business. The first processing device 10 executes control related to the app executed in the user terminal 30 as the first process. As a result, the first processing device 10 acquires first health information (corresponding to the first information described above with reference to FIG. 1) via the user terminal 30.

[0029] Here, the multiple first processing devices 10 control different applications provided by the same or multiple businesses. For example, the first processing device 10-1 controls a first application, while the first processing device 10-2 controls a second application. Therefore, the multiple first processing devices 10 acquire different first health information corresponding to the different applications.

[0030] The second processing device 20 is used by medical professionals such as doctors, pharmacists, and physical therapists, the family of the user who uses the user terminal 30, and the user himself who uses the user terminal 30 (hereinafter referred to as the "viewer"). The second processing device 20 is configured by an information processing device such as a server computer managed by a business that provides a business program corresponding to the second processing (hereinafter referred to as the "business program"), or a personal computer owned by the viewer. The second processing device 20 executes the business program as the second processing. As a result, the second processing device 20 acquires second health information (corresponding to the second information described above with reference to FIG. 1).

[0031] Here, the multiple second processing devices 20 execute different business programs provided by the same or multiple businesses. For example, the second processing device 20-1 executes a first business program, while the second processing device 20-2 executes a second business program. Therefore, each of the multiple second processing devices 20 acquires different second health information corresponding to the business program executed by itself.

[0032] The user terminal 30 is used by a user who uses the user terminal 30, and is composed of information processing devices such as a smartphone or wearable device owned by the user, and a measuring device installed in a predetermined facility (for example, a sports club, a nursing home, a municipal health facility, a pharmacy, and a hospital). The user terminal 30 executes an app under the control of the first processing device 10 as a first process. That is, the first process is realized by the first processing device 10 and the user terminal 30 working together. As a result, the first processing device 10 acquires the first health information.

[0033] As described above, there are a plurality of apps corresponding to the plurality of first processing devices 10. Therefore, the user terminal 30 acquires different first health information corresponding to each of the apps executed by the user terminal 30.

[0034] In this way, in the information sharing system S, there are a plurality of applications executed by the user terminal 30 under the control of the first processing device 10, and a plurality of business programs executed by the second processing device 20. That is, in the information sharing system S, a plurality of applications are executed as a first process, and a plurality of business programs are executed as a second process. Then, the user can set a viewing condition as to whether or not to permit viewing for each combination of each application (corresponding to the first processing device 10) and each business program (corresponding to the second processing device 20). This allows the information sharing system S to share information about users more appropriately in a greater number of processes.

[0035] The information management device 40 is used by a business that supports the provision of information between businesses that provide applications and business programs, and is configured with an information processing device such as a server computer managed by the business. The information management device 40 manages the viewing conditions set by the user, and performs processing to realize viewing based on the viewing conditions.

[0036] Here, the multiple information management devices 40 are connected to each other via P2P (Peer to Peer) so that they can communicate with each other, and this P2P network forms a blockchain BC, which is a distributed ledger. This blockchain BC distributes and stores the viewing conditions in the multiple information management devices 40, and manages the viewing conditions based on the consistency between the distributed and stored information. In this way, by using blockchain BC to manage the database (in other words, a registry) in which viewing conditions are stored as a distributed ledger, businesses that support the provision of information between businesses can function as information providers.

[0037] Here, such a blockchain BC can be realized based on existing blockchain technology. In this case, for example, when the viewing conditions are distributed and stored, the viewing conditions are encrypted and falsification or damage of the viewing conditions is detected by calculating a hash value. Furthermore, the blockchain BC uses electronic signatures to prevent spoofing, etc. Furthermore, the blockchain BC verifies the validity of the distributed and stored viewing conditions based on a consensus algorithm such as PoW (Proof of Work). Through this series of processes, the blockchain BC properly manages the viewing conditions.

[0038] As described above with reference to Fig. 2, the information sharing system S not only produces the effects described above with reference to Fig. 1, but also allows the user to set a viewing condition as to whether or not to permit viewing of a combination of multiple applications and multiple business programs. This allows information about a user to be shared in a larger number of processes.

[0039] In addition, according to the information sharing system S, multiple information management devices 40 work together to form a blockchain BC, which makes it possible to ensure higher security and reduce management and operational costs compared to a case in which viewing conditions are managed by a general server-client type system. Therefore, according to the information sharing system S, information about a user can be shared more appropriately in a plurality of processes.

[0040] [Hardware configuration] Next, the hardware configuration of each device included in the information sharing system S will be described. As described above, each device and terminal included in the information sharing system S is composed of an information processing device such as a server computer, a personal computer, a smartphone, a wearable device, or a measuring device installed in the facility, and each device and terminal has the same basic configuration.

[0041] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of an information processing device 800 constituting each device included in the information sharing system S. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing device 800 constituting each device includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 811, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 812, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 813, a bus 814, an input unit 815, an output unit 816, a memory unit 817, a communication unit 818, a drive 819, and a sensor unit 820.

[0042] The CPU 811 executes various processes according to a program recorded in a ROM 812 or a program loaded from a storage unit 817 to a RAM 813 . The RAM 813 also stores data and the like necessary for the CPU 811 to execute various processes.

[0043] The CPU 811, the ROM 812, and the RAM 813 are connected to one another via a bus 814. To the bus 814, an input unit 815, an output unit 816, a storage unit 817, a communication unit 818, a drive 819, and a sensor unit 820 are connected.

[0044] The input unit 815 is configured with various buttons and the like, and inputs various information in response to instruction operations. The input unit 815 further includes a microphone for collecting voice. The output unit 816 is composed of a display, a speaker, etc., and outputs images and sounds.

[0045] The storage unit 817 is composed of a hard disk or a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or the like, and stores various data managed by each server. The communication unit 818 controls communication with other devices via the network N.

[0046] Removable media 831, such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a semiconductor memory, is appropriately loaded into the drive 819. A program read from the removable media 831 by the drive 819 is installed in the storage unit 817 as necessary.

[0047] The sensor unit 820 is configured with various sensors and measures various information corresponding to the sensors. For example, the sensor unit 820 is configured with a sensor that measures biological information such as the user's heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor that measures position information, an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor that measure the motion state, and the like.

[0048] When the information processing device 800 is configured as the first processing device 10 or the information management device 40, it is possible to omit the sensor unit 820. When the information processing device 800 is configured as a smartphone or the like, it is also possible to configure the input unit 815 as a touch sensor and arrange it over the display of the output unit 816 to have a touch panel.

[0049] [Functional configuration] Next, the functional configuration of each device and each terminal in the information sharing system S will be described.

[0050] [Functional configuration of the first processing device 10] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the first processor 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, in the CPU 811 of the first processing device 10, a first processing control unit 151 and a browsing information generating unit 152 function. As shown in FIG. 4, in the storage unit 817 of the first processing device 10, a user information storage unit 171 and a first health information storage unit 172 are formed.

[0051] As a first process, the first process control unit 151 executes control related to an app executed in the user terminal 30. The control related to the app includes, for example, a process of providing the app to the user terminal 30 and installing the app in the user terminal 30, and a process of managing various types of information related to the operation of the app by transmitting and receiving the information between the user terminal 30 and the user terminal 30.

[0052] The application controlled by the first processing control unit 151 is not particularly limited as long as it uses the first health information. For example, the application may simply perform processing to acquire the first health information, or may further perform predetermined processing such as managing the acquired first health information or performing statistical analysis. For example, the application may be an application for managing health and living conditions, or an application for an electronic medicine record.

[0053] The various types of information managed by first process control unit 151 include, for example, user information and first health information. The user information includes information such as an identifier for identifying the user, and information indicating the user's attributes such as the user's name, password, email address, etc. This user information is used for user registration in the app and for associating the first health information with the user. The first health information varies depending on the type of app, but may be, for example, biometric information indicating the user's health condition such as heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc., information indicating the user's lifestyle such as exercise, sleep, and diet, information included in a medical history, etc., acquired in relation to the function of the app. This first health information is not only used in the app, but is also used as a viewing target by the second processing device 20 as described above.

[0054] In association with control related to the app, first process control unit 151 acquires user information through communication with user terminal 30, and stores the acquired user information in user information storage unit 171. That is, user information storage unit 171 functions as a storage unit that stores user information. Similarly, first process control unit 151 acquires first health information through communication with user terminal 30 in association with control related to the app, and stores the acquired first health information in first health information storage unit 172. That is, first health information storage unit 172 functions as a storage unit that stores user information.

[0055] The browsing information generating unit 152 generates the browsing information when receiving an instruction to transmit the browsing information from the information management device 40. Then, the browsing information generating unit 152 transmits the generated browsing information to the information management device 40.

[0056] This viewing information is generated by extracting at least a part of the first health information and converting it into a predetermined format suitable for viewing. The information to be extracted from this first health information and the predetermined format suitable for viewing (for example, file format) are defined in advance based on the type of application, etc. This definition is determined, for example, by a business providing the application, a business providing the business program, or a business managing the information management device 40 that serves as a provider between these businesses. In this way, since the range of information to be disclosed as viewing information can be determined according to the application, rather than disclosing all information related to the application as viewing information, the business providing the application can easily permit the disclosure of information managed by the business program of another company. In other words, it becomes easier for business providing the application to enter the information sharing system S.

[0057] [Functional configuration of the second processing device 20] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the second processing device 20. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, in the CPU 811 of the second processing device 20, a second process execution unit 251, a second health information acquisition unit 252, and a view request unit 253 function. As shown in FIG. 5, in the storage unit 817 of the second processing device 20, a user information storage unit 271 and a second health information storage unit 272 are formed.

[0058] The second process execution unit 251 executes a business program as the second process. The execution of the business program includes, for example, a process of acquiring the business program from an external server (not shown) managed by a business provider that provides the business program and installing the business program in the second processing device 20, a process of realizing a function corresponding to the business program, a process of managing various information related to the operation of the business program, a process of viewing the first health information by making a request to view the first health information to the information management device 40, and the like.

[0059] The business program executed by the second processing execution unit 251 is not particularly limited as long as it uses the second health information. For example, the business program may simply perform processing to acquire the second health information, or may further perform predetermined processing such as managing the acquired second health information or performing statistical analysis. For example, the business program may be a business program for managing electronic medical records in a hospital or a medical history in a hospital, or a business program for mutually confirming the first health information and the second health information between family members.

[0060] The various types of information managed by second health information acquisition section 252 include, for example, user information and second health information. The user information includes information such as an identifier for identifying the user, and information indicating the user's attributes such as the user's name, password, email address, etc. This user information is used for user registration in the business program and for associating the second health information with the user. The second health information varies depending on the type of business program, but for example, it is information acquired in relation to the function of the business program, such as biometric information indicating the user's health condition, such as heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc., information included in electronic medical records, information included in medical history, etc. This second health information is used by the business program.

[0061] In conjunction with the execution of the business program, second process execution unit 251 acquires user information through an input operation of the user information or communication with user terminal 30 or information management device 40, etc., and stores the acquired user information in user information storage unit 271. That is, user information storage unit 271 functions as a storage unit that stores user information. Similarly, second process execution unit 251 acquires second health information from second health information acquisition unit 252 in conjunction with the execution of the business program, and stores the acquired second health information in second health information storage unit 272. That is, second health information storage unit 272 functions as a storage unit that stores user information.

[0062] Second health information acquisition unit 252 acquires second health information in association with execution of the business program of second process execution unit 251. Then, second health information acquisition unit 252 outputs the acquired second health information to second process execution unit 251. For example, when the second health information is various biological information of the user, second health information acquisition unit 252 acquires the various biological information by controlling measurement by sensor unit 820. Also, for example, when the second health information is information included in an electronic medical record or information included in a medical history, second health information acquisition unit 252 acquires such information via input unit 815 and communication unit 818.

[0063] When the viewing request unit 253 receives an instruction to send a request to view the first health information from a viewer using the second processing device 20, it transmits the request to view the first health information to the information management device 40. This viewing request includes information for identifying which second processing device 20 has sent the viewing request, and information specifying which user's application provided by which first processing device 10 the first health information is to be viewed.

[0064] Furthermore, when the viewing request unit 253 receives viewing information from the information management device 40 as a response to the viewing request, it outputs the viewing information to the viewer. On the other hand, when the viewing request unit 253 receives a message from the information management device 40 indicating that viewing is not permitted as a response to the viewing request, it outputs a message indicating that viewing is not permitted to the viewer. Such output to the viewer is realized, for example, by displaying the information on a display included in the output unit 810, or by printing on a paper medium from a printing device (not shown) connected via the communication unit 818.

[0065] [Functional configuration of user terminal 30] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the user terminal 30. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, in CPU 811 of user terminal 30, first process execution unit 351, first health information acquisition unit 352, and viewing condition setting unit 353 function. As shown in FIG. 6, in storage unit 817 of user terminal 30, a user information storage unit 371 and a first health information storage unit 372 are formed.

[0066] The first process execution unit 351 executes an app as a first process based on the control of the first processing device 10. The execution of the app includes, for example, a process of acquiring the app from the first processing device 10 and installing the app in the user terminal 30, a process of implementing a function corresponding to the app, a process of managing various information related to the operation of the app, and a process of transmitting the various information to the first processing device 10. The app executed by the first process execution unit 351 is not particularly limited as long as it uses the first health information as described above.

[0067] The various types of information managed by the first process execution unit 351 include user information and first health information, similar to the first process control unit 151 of the first processing device 10. First process execution unit 351 acquires user information by an input operation of the user information in association with the execution of the application, and stores the acquired user information in user information storage unit 371. That is, user information storage unit 371 functions as a storage unit that stores user information. Similarly, first process execution unit 351 acquires first health information from first health information acquisition unit 352 in association with the execution of the application, and stores the acquired first health information in first health information storage unit 372. That is, first health information storage unit 372 functions as a storage unit that stores user information. In addition, first process execution unit 351 transmits the acquired user information and first health information to first processing device 10.

[0068] The first health information acquisition unit 352 acquires the first health information in association with the execution of the application by the first process execution unit 351. Then, the viewing condition setting unit 353 outputs the acquired first health information to the first process execution unit 351. For example, when the first health information is various biological information of the user, the first health information acquisition unit 352 acquires various biological information by controlling the measurement by the sensor unit 820. Also, for example, when the first health information is information indicating the user's living conditions such as exercise, sleep, and diet, the first health information acquisition unit 352 statistically analyzes the various biological information to acquire this information. Furthermore, for example, when the first health information is information included in a medicine notebook, the first health information acquisition unit 352 acquires information included in the medicine notebook via the input unit 815 and the communication unit 818.

[0069] When receiving an instruction to set viewing conditions for viewing the first health information from a user using the user terminal 30, the viewing condition setting unit 353 sets the viewing conditions in the information management device 40. The viewing conditions can be set arbitrarily by the user using the user terminal 30 based on his or her own will. An example of the viewing conditions will be described with reference to FIG. 7. Here, FIG. 7 is a table showing an example of viewing conditions set by the user terminal 30 and managed by the information management device 40.

[0070] 7, in this table, a column (row) is provided for each of the multiple first health information as the viewed information, and a record (column) is provided for each of the multiple second processing devices 20 that can view the viewed information.

[0071] Here, the correspondence between the first processing device 10 and the first health information may be a one-to-one relationship, or may be a one-to-many relationship as shown in the figure. In other words, the first health information obtained by one application executed by one first processing device 10 may be set as a unit for whether or not it can be viewed, or the first health information may be set as a unit for which it is further divided. By being able to set whether or not it can be viewed in such a divided unit, it is possible to make settings that reflect the user's intention in more detail.

[0072] Then, the viewing condition setting unit 353 sets information indicating whether viewing is permitted, such as "viewable" or "not viewable", for each field (cell) where a column and a record intersect, based on a setting instruction from a user who uses the user terminal 30. In this way, the viewing condition is set including whether viewing is permitted for a combination of any first processing device 10 (any first health information acquired by the first processing device 10) and any second processing device 20.

[0073] The viewing conditions set in this manner are managed in the information management device 40 in the form of, for example, this table. Note that this table corresponds to the viewing conditions set for one user, and if there are multiple users, multiple tables similar to this table are created corresponding to each of the multiple users.

[0074] [Functional configuration of information management device 40] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the information management device 40. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, in the CPU 811 of the information management device 40, a user information management section 451, a viewing condition management section 452, a determination section 453, and viewing control sections 454 and 455 function. As shown in FIG. 8, in the storage unit 817 of the information management device 40, a user management information storage unit 471 and a viewing condition storage unit 472 are formed.

[0075] The user information management unit 451 integrates the user information of the entire information sharing system S and manages it as user management information. To this end, the user information management unit 451 periodically communicates with the first processing device 10, the second processing device 20, and the user terminal 30 at a predetermined update timing to acquire the user information stored in these devices. Then, the user information management unit 451 updates the user management information based on the user information acquired from these devices. Here, the first processing device 10, the second processing device 20, and the user terminal 30 manage user information corresponding to different applications and different business programs, respectively. Therefore, the contents of each piece of user information are not necessarily the same. Therefore, the user information management unit 451 identifies which user each piece of user information acquired by communication from each device belongs to by a method such as assigning unique identification information to each user, and updates the user management information so that each piece of user information is consistent. Then, every time the user management information is updated, the user information management unit 451 stores the updated user management information in the user management information storage unit 471. That is, the user management information storage unit 471 functions as a storage unit that stores the user management information.

[0076] The viewing condition management unit 452 manages the viewing conditions set from the user terminal 30. The viewing condition management unit 452 distributes and stores the set viewing conditions in the viewing condition storage unit 472 of each of the multiple information management devices 40 forming the blockchain BC, for example, in a format such as the table shown in Fig. 7. That is, the viewing condition storage unit 472 functions as a storage unit that stores the set viewing conditions. Moreover, the viewing condition management unit 452 manages the set viewing conditions by the block chain BC as described above. That is, the viewing conditions are appropriately managed by the cooperation of a plurality of information management devices 40.

[0077] When the determination unit 453 receives a request to view the first health information from the second processing device 20, the determination unit 453 determines whether or not to permit viewing based on the viewing conditions managed by the viewing condition management unit 452 using the blockchain BC. Here, as described above, the viewing request includes information for identifying which second processing device 20 is the sender of the viewing request, and information specifying which user and which first processing device 10 provides the application for which the first health information is to be viewed. Based on these pieces of information, the determination unit 453 identifies the user, the first processing device 10, and the second processing device 20 corresponding to this viewing request. Then, it determines whether or not at least a part of the first health information of this first processing device 10 is permitted to be viewed by this second processing device 20 under the viewing conditions of this user.

[0078] The viewing control unit 454 controls viewing of the first health information based on the determination result of the determination unit 453. When the determination unit 453 determines that viewing is permitted, the viewing control unit 454 transmits an instruction to transmit information to be viewed to the first processing device 10 corresponding to the viewing request. Then, when the viewing control unit 454 receives information to be viewed from the first processing device 10, it transmits the information to be viewed as a response to the viewing request to the second processing device 20 that is the sender of the viewing request.

[0079] Thus, in the information sharing system S, the first health information is managed by the first processing device 10, and when viewing is permitted, the viewing control unit 454 acquires the first health information from the first processing device 10 and allows the second processing device 20 to view the acquired first health information. As a result, the information management device 40 and the second processing device 20 do not need to manage the first health information handled in the processing by the first processing device 10. As a result, the information management device 40 and the second processing device 20 can eliminate the need for processing such as storing the first health information and updating the first health information in synchronization with the first processing device 10.

[0080] In this case, the viewing control unit 454 may transmit the received viewing information to the second processing device 20 as is, or may convert the received viewing information before transmitting it to the second processing device 20. For example, when the viewing information is editable text data, the viewing information may be edited erroneously in the second processing device 20. In this case, the viewing control unit 454 may convert the viewing information into image data that is difficult to edit, or into data in a Portable Document Format (PDF) format that does not allow editing, before transmitting it to the second processing device 20. This can prevent the viewing information from being edited erroneously in the second processing device 20. Then, the viewing information corresponding to the first health information is output to the viewer by the second processing device 20 as described above. This realizes viewing in this embodiment.

[0081] On the other hand, when the determination unit 453 determines that viewing is not permitted, the viewing control unit 454 transmits a message indicating that viewing is not permitted to the second processing device 20 that is the sender of the viewing request as a response to the viewing request. Then, as described above, this message indicating that viewing is not permitted is output to the viewer by the second processing device 20. This realizes a restriction on viewing that reflects the user's intention in this embodiment.

[0082] [Operation] Next, the operation of each device included in the information sharing system S during processing for information sharing will be described.

[0083] [Operation of the first processing device 10] FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed by the first processing device 10 during processing for sharing information. The operation of the first processing device 10 starts when the first processing device 10 is started.

[0084] In step S11, the first process control unit 151 determines whether or not user information of the user who uses the user terminal 30 is registered. If the user information is registered, the result of the determination in step S11 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if the user information is not registered, the result of the determination in step S11 is No, and the process proceeds to step S12.

[0085] In step S12, the first process control unit 151 acquires user information through communication with the user terminal 30, and stores the acquired user information in the user information storage unit 171. In this way, the first process control unit 151 registers the user information.

[0086] In step S13, the first process control unit 151 executes control related to an application executed in the user terminal 30 as a first process.

[0087] In step S14, first process control unit 151 acquires first health information from user terminal 30, and causes first health information storage unit 172 to store the acquired first health information.

[0088] In step S15, the viewing information generating unit 152 judges whether or not an instruction to transmit the viewing information has been received from the information management device 40. If an instruction to transmit the viewing information has been received, the result of step S15 is judged as Yes, and the process proceeds to step S16. On the other hand, if an instruction to transmit the viewing information has not been received, the result of step S15 is judged as No, and the process proceeds to step S17.

[0089] In step S16, the browsing information generating unit 152 generates browsing information and transmits the generated browsing information to the information management device 40.

[0090] In step S17, the first process control unit 151 determines whether or not to end the first process (here, control related to an application executed in the user terminal 30). If the first process is to be ended, the result of the determination in step S17 is Yes, and this process is once ended. Then, this process is started again from step S11. On the other hand, if the first process is not to be ended, the result of the determination in step S17 is No, and the process is repeated again from step S13.

[0091] [Operation of the second processing device 20] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed by the second processing device 20 during processing for sharing information. The operation of the second processing device 20 starts when the second processing device 20 is started.

[0092] In step S21, the second process execution unit 251 determines whether or not user information of the user who uses the user terminal 30 is registered. If the user information is registered, the result of the determination in step S22 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S23. On the other hand, if the user information is not registered, the result of the determination in step S21 is No, and the process proceeds to step S22.

[0093] In step S22, the second process execution unit 251 acquires user information through an input operation of the user information or communication with the user terminal 30 or the information management device 40, and stores the acquired user information in the user information storage unit 271. In this way, the second process execution unit 251 registers the user information.

[0094] In step S23, the second process execution section 251 executes the business program as the second process.

[0095] In step S24, second health information acquisition section 252 acquires the second health information, and causes second health information storage section 272 to store the acquired second health information.

[0096] In step S25, the view request unit 253 judges whether or not a view request transmission instruction has been received from a viewer using the second processing device 20. If a view request transmission instruction has been received, the result of step S25 is judged as Yes, and the process proceeds to step S28. On the other hand, if a view request transmission instruction has not been received, the result of step S25 is judged as No, and the process proceeds to step S30.

[0097] In step S26, the access request section 253 transmits a access request for the first health information to the information management device 40.

[0098] In step S27, the viewing request unit 253 judges whether or not the response to the viewing request includes viewing information. If the response includes viewing information, the result of step S27 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S28. On the other hand, if the response does not include viewing information, the result of step S27 is No, and the process proceeds to step S29.

[0099] In step S28, the view request unit 253 outputs the view information to the viewer, thereby achieving viewing in this embodiment.

[0100] In step S29, the view request unit 253 outputs a message to the viewer that viewing is not permitted, thereby realizing a restriction on viewing that reflects the user's intention in this embodiment.

[0101] In step S30, the second process execution unit 251 judges whether or not to end the second process (here, execution of the business program). If the second process is to be ended, the result of the judgment in step S30 is Yes, and this process is terminated once. Then, this process is started again from step S21. On the other hand, if the second process is not to be ended, the result of the judgment in step S30 is No, and the process is repeated again from step S23.

[0102] [Operation of user terminal 30] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed by the user terminal 30 during processing for information sharing. The operation of the user terminal 30 is started in response to the reception, from the user, of an instruction to start the application at the user terminal 30.

[0103] In step S31, the first process execution unit 351 determines whether or not user information of a user who uses the user terminal 30 is registered. If the user information is registered, the result of the determination in step S31 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S33. On the other hand, if the user information is not registered, the result of the determination in step S31 is No, and the process proceeds to step S32.

[0104] In step S32, first process execution unit 351 acquires user information through an input operation of the user information, and stores the acquired user information in user information storage unit 371. In this way, first process execution unit 351 registers the user information.

[0105] In step S33, the first process execution unit 351 executes an application as the first process.

[0106] In step S34, first health information acquisition section 352 acquires the first health information, and stores the acquired first health information in 373. In addition, first health information acquisition section 352 transmits the acquired first health information to first processing device 10.

[0107] In step S35, the viewing condition setting unit 353 judges whether or not a viewing condition setting instruction for viewing the first health information has been received from the user who uses the user terminal 30. If a viewing condition setting instruction has been received, the result of step S35 is judged as Yes, and the process proceeds to step S36. On the other hand, if a viewing condition setting instruction has not been received, the result of step S35 is judged as No, and the process proceeds to step S37.

[0108] In step S36, the viewing condition setting unit 353 communicates with the information management device 40 to set viewing conditions in a format such as the table shown in FIG.

[0109] In step S37, the first process execution unit 351 determines whether or not to end the first process (here, execution of an app). If the first process is to be ended, the determination in step S37 is Yes, and this process is once ended. Then, this process is started again from step S31. On the other hand, if the first process is not to be ended, the determination in step S37 is No, and the process is repeated again from step S33.

[0110] [Operation of information management device 40] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations performed by the information management device 40 during processing for information sharing. The operation of the information management device 40 starts when the information management device 40 is started.

[0111] In step S41, the user information management unit 451 judges whether a predetermined update timing for updating the user management information has arrived. If the update timing has arrived, the result of the judgment in step S41 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S42. On the other hand, if the update timing has not arrived, the result of the judgment in step S41 is No, and the process proceeds to step S43.

[0112] In step S42, the user information management unit 451 acquires the user information stored in the first processing device 10, the second processing device 20, and the user terminal 30. Then, the user information management unit 451 updates the user management information based on the user information acquired from these devices.

[0113] In step S43, the viewing condition management unit 452 determines whether or not new viewing conditions have been set from the user terminal 30. If new viewing conditions have been set, the result of step S43 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S44. On the other hand, if new viewing conditions have not been set, the result of step S43 is No, and the process proceeds to step S45.

[0114] In step S44, the viewing condition management unit 452 adds the newly set viewing conditions as new management targets. Specifically, the viewing condition management unit 452 distributes and stores the newly set viewing conditions in the viewing condition storage units 472 of the multiple information management devices 40. Then, the viewing condition management unit 452 manages the set viewing conditions by the blockchain BC, which is a distributed ledger, as described above.

[0115] In step S45, the judgment unit 453 judges whether or not a request to view the first health information has been received from the second processing device 20. If a request to view the first health information has been received, the judgment in step S45 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S46. On the other hand, if a request to view the first health information has not been received, the judgment in step S45 is No, and this process ends once. Then, this process starts again from step S41.

[0116] In step S46, the judgment unit 453 judges whether or not to permit browsing based on the browsing conditions managed by the browsing condition management unit 452 using the block chain BC.

[0117] In step S47, viewing control unit 454 determines whether or not viewing has been permitted by determination unit 453. If viewing has been permitted, step S47 is determined as Yes, and the process proceeds to step S48. On the other hand, if viewing has not been permitted, step S47 is determined as No, and the process proceeds to step S50.

[0118] In step S48, if the determination unit 453 determines that the viewing is permitted, the viewing control unit 454 transmits an instruction to transmit the viewing information to the first processing device 10 corresponding to the viewing request. Then, the viewing control unit 454 receives the viewing information from the first processing device 10.

[0119] In step S49, the viewing control unit 454 transmits the received viewing information to the second processing device 20 that is the transmission source of the viewing request. This ends the present process once. Then, the present process is started again from step S41.

[0120] In step S50, the viewing control unit 454 transmits a notice that viewing is not permitted to the second processing device 20 that is the transmission source of the viewing request. This ends the present process once. Then, the present process is started again from step S41.

[0121] According to the above-described operation of each device included in the information sharing system S during processing for information sharing, the first health information handled by the first processing device 10 is allowed to be viewed by the second processing device 20 performing other processing, thereby realizing information sharing. In this case, the information sharing system S does not allow the second processing device 20 to view the information without restrictions, but determines whether or not the information can be viewed based on viewing conditions set by the user himself / herself. This allows the user to arbitrarily select the viewing destination of information related to himself / herself at his / her own will. Furthermore, the information sharing system S can share the information in multiple processes after improving the confidentiality and availability of the information by reflecting such a selection based on the user's will. Therefore, according to the information sharing system S, information about a user can be appropriately shared among a plurality of processes.

[0122] [Example] Next, a display example of a screen including various information and a user interface displayed in the information sharing system S will be described. Fig. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a terminal operation screen 60 displayed on the user terminal 30 when registering user information (corresponding to step S32 in Fig. 11) or when setting browsing conditions (corresponding to step S36 in Fig. 11). Fig. 13 shows three examples of operation screens as examples. As shown in Fig. 13(A), Fig. 13(B), and Fig. 13(C), the terminal operation screen 60 includes, as display areas, an operation instruction area 61, a main operation area 62, and a transition button display area 63. Note that in Fig. 13(A), the transition button display area 63 is omitted.

[0123] The terminal operation screen 60 shown in FIG. 13(A) is a menu screen. In this case, text prompting the user to select a menu is displayed in the operation instruction area 61. The user selects a menu by selecting various buttons displayed in the main operation area 62 according to this text. As the various buttons, for example, a "Start application" button for selecting an application to be executed, a "Check health information" button for checking the acquired first health information on the user terminal 30, a "User registration" button for registering user information, and a "Viewing conditions" button for setting viewing conditions are displayed. Here, when the user selects the "User registration" button, the screen transitions to a user information registration screen shown in FIG. 13(B). Also, when the user selects the "Viewing conditions setting" button, the screen transitions to a viewing conditions setting screen shown in FIG. 13(C).

[0124] The terminal operation screen 60 shown in FIG. 13(B) is a screen for registering user information (corresponding to step S32 in FIG. 11). In this case, text prompting the user to register user information is displayed in the operation instruction area 61. The user inputs the user's own information into each item displayed in the main operation area 62 according to this text. For example, the user inputs information indicating the user's attributes such as name, reading, date of birth, etc., and information such as a password and an email address. Then, when the user finishes inputting, the user selects the "Register" button displayed in the transition button display area 63. This causes the user information to be registered in the user terminal 30. On the other hand, if the user wants to cancel the registration of the user information midway, the user selects the "Menu screen" button displayed in the transition button display area 63. This causes the screen to transition to the menu screen shown in FIG. 13(A).

[0125] The terminal operation screen 60 shown in FIG. 13(C) is a screen for setting the viewing conditions (corresponding to step S36 in FIG. 11). In this case, text prompting the user to set the viewing conditions is displayed in the operation instruction area 61. The user sets the viewing conditions by selecting from each item displayed in the main operation area 62 according to this text. The viewing conditions include whether or not viewing is permitted for a combination of which first processing device 10 (which first health information acquired by the first processing device 10) and which second processing device 20, as shown in FIG. 6. In this display, in order to make it easy for the user to understand, the application name provided by the first processing device 10 is displayed instead of the name of the first processing device 10 (for example, information corresponding to the code such as 10-1). Similarly, the business program name provided by the second processing device 20 is displayed instead of the name of the second processing device 20 (for example, information corresponding to the code such as 20-1).

[0126] The user selects the viewed application and also selects the viewing business program that allows viewing of the first health information acquired by the viewed application. This determines the combination to be permitted to be viewed this time. Furthermore, the user selects the range of the first health information to be permitted to be viewed from the first health information acquired by the viewed application. After the user finishes the selection, the user selects the "Execute Setting" button displayed in the transition button display area 63. This causes the setting of the viewing conditions to be executed in the user terminal 30. By repeating this operation, the user can permit viewing of various combinations in any range to be viewed. On the other hand, if the user wants to cancel the setting of the viewing conditions midway, the user selects the "Menu Screen" button displayed in the transition button display area 63. This causes the screen to transition to the menu screen shown in FIG. 13(A). In this way, by providing various screens on the user terminal 30, the user can easily register user information and set viewing conditions.

[0127] 14 and 15 are schematic diagrams showing an example of a viewing screen displayed on the second processing device 20 when the viewing information is output (corresponding to step S28 in FIG. 10).

[0128] The viewing screen 70 shown in Fig. 14 is a menu screen. As shown in Fig. 14, the viewing screen 70 includes a login status display area 71 and a target person selection area 72 as display areas. The login status display area 71 displays a viewer (here, "Mr. △") who has logged in to the business program being executed on the second processing device and is about to view the first health information. In this example, a scene is assumed in which the first health conditions of each family member are viewed, and the logged-in viewer is one of the family members. This viewer selects, from the target selection area 72, whose first health information is to be viewed. In this case, the target to be viewed may be the viewer himself or herself, or a family member of the viewer. In this case, the targets that the viewer can view and the range of the first health information that can be viewed are determined by the viewing conditions set by each family member as a user.

[0129] In this example, it is assumed that the viewer selects the "△Futoshi-kun" button. Then, the screen transitions to the viewing screen 80 shown in Fig. 15. If the viewer selects the "Logout" button from the target selection area 72, the login state is released and viewing ends.

[0130] A viewing screen 80 shown in Fig. 15 is a viewing screen for the first health information. As shown in Fig. 15, the viewing screen 80 includes a login status display area 81 and an information display area 82 as display areas. In login status display area 81, similarly to login status display area 71 described above, a viewer (here, "Mr. △") who is attempting to view the first health information is displayed.

[0131] The information display area 82 displays the first health information of "△Futoshi-kun" selected as the subject to view the first health information. As described above, the first health information in this embodiment is assumed to include not only information obtained by tests in a general health checkup, but also various other information related to health and medicine, such as information on diet, sleep, and exercise intensity in daily life, various measured biological information, guidance content related to medical diagnosis and treatment, guidance content related to pharmaceutical guidance and medication, and observation content related to rehabilitation and life assistance. Therefore, the information display area 82 displays a list of these various first health information categorized, for example, as "basic information," "lifestyle information," and "medical information."

[0132] In this case, the first health information may be displayed as a numerical value indicating the value, or may be displayed as a word indicating the state, such as "abnormal" or "normal," or may be displayed in the form of a graph, such as "height transition" or "weight transition," so that the change over time can be easily understood. Also, the first health information may be displayed in the form of a sentence, such as "message from the pharmacist." Furthermore, in this case, a message for communication may be displayed in the form of a sentence.

[0133] In addition, only the first health information may be displayed, or the second health information acquired by the business program may also be displayed together. Also, buttons such as a "detailed information" button for transitioning to a screen displaying more detailed information may be displayed in the information display area 82. If the viewer selects the "logout" button from the information display area 82, the login state is cancelled and viewing ends. Also, if the viewer selects the "menu screen" button from the information display area 82, the screen transitions to the menu screen shown in FIG. 14.

[0134] By viewing the first health information and the second health information in this way, the viewer (here, "Mr. △") can understand not only his own health condition but also the health conditions of his family members. This allows family members to watch over each other's health conditions and manage their health conditions more appropriately. Furthermore, by viewing the first health information and the second health information in this way, medical professionals (e.g., doctors, pharmacists, visiting care workers (home helpers), and medical therapists) can share various medical information among themselves and provide more appropriate medical guidance and treatment. Therefore, for example, the information sharing system S can be effectively used in situations such as when family members check each other's health status, or when various medical professionals and family members are involved in providing comprehensive care to a single person in the community.

[0135] [Variations] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the present invention includes any modifications and improvements that can achieve the object of the present invention. In this case, the above-described embodiment and its modifications and improvements are included in the scope and gist of the invention described in this specification, etc., and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and their equivalents. As an example, the embodiment of the present invention described above may be modified as follows.

[0136] [Variation 1] The configuration of the information sharing system S in the above-described embodiment is merely an example, and is not limited thereto. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an operator functioning as a provider manages a plurality of information management devices 40, and the plurality of information management devices 40 form a blockchain BC. That is, the blockchain BC is formed in a manner called a private type only by the devices managed by the operator. Not limited to this, for example, the blockchain BC may be formed including devices (e.g., the first processing device 10 and the second processing device 20) managed by operators other than the operator, and devices (e.g., the user terminal 30) used by users. That is, the blockchain BC may be formed in a manner called a consortium type or a public type. Alternatively, the information management device 40 may manage the viewing conditions in a secure manner other than the blockchain BC. In the above-described embodiment, the first process is an application and the second process is a business program, but the present invention is not limited to this. The first process and the second process may be realized by executing software other than the application and the business program.

[0137] [Variation 2] In the above embodiment, the first health information acquired by the first processing device 10 is viewed on the second processing device 20 based on the viewing conditions set by the user, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first health information acquired by the first processing device 10 may be viewable on another first processing device 10 based on the viewing conditions set by the user. In addition, the second health information acquired by the second processing device 20 may be viewable on another second processing device 20 or the first processing device 10 based on the viewing conditions set by the user.

[0138] [Variation 3] In the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that the user who uses the user terminal 30 sets the viewing conditions, and the user arbitrarily sets the viewing conditions for the first health information based on his / her own will. This is not limited to the above, and for example, for some of the first health information, a person other than the user may be allowed to set the viewing conditions. This allows other people, such as a medical professional who provides medical guidance or treatment to the user, or a family member of the user, to set the viewing conditions. Therefore, for health-related information that is not desirable for the user to manage themselves (for example, the name of a disease before the user has been notified, or test results from specialized tests that the user is unlikely to need to know), other people can set viewing conditions and manage the information appropriately.

[0139] [Variation 4] In the above-described embodiment, the viewing conditions are set including whether or not viewing is permitted for a combination of which first processing device 10 (which first health information acquired by the first processing device 10) and which second processing device 20. This is not limiting, and the viewing conditions may be set in more detail. For example, the first health information that can be viewed may be varied depending on who is the viewer using the second processing device 20.

[0140] For example, as described above with reference to Figures 14 and 15, in the case where the first health information is viewed among family members using the second processing device 20, the first health information that can be viewed may be different depending on which family member is the viewer identified as the logged-in user. For example, if the viewer is a father, he or she may be able to view the first health information of all family members, but if the viewer is a child, he or she may only be able to view his or her own first health information. In a similar manner, if the viewer is a medical professional, he or she may only be able to view first health information related to his or her job. This makes it possible to set viewing conditions that better reflect the purpose for which the viewer is viewing the content and the user's intentions.

[0141] [Variation 5] In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the viewing conditions were set based on the user's will as to whether or not to permit viewing for each combination of each application (corresponding first processing device 10) that acquires the first health information and each business program (corresponding second processing device 20) that views this first health information. The viewing conditions may be set using other information, for example, whether or not viewing is permitted based on the “attributes” of the viewer who has made a viewing request using the second processing device 20 may be set as the viewing conditions.

[0142] In this case, first, attribute information indicating the attributes of the viewer is further included in the user information stored in the user information storage unit 171, the user information storage unit 271, and the user information storage unit 371. Then, the user information management unit 451 integrates the user information including this attribute information, and stores it in the user management information storage unit 471 as user management information. An example of the user management information in this case will be described with reference to Fig. 16(a). Here, Fig. 16(a) is a table showing an example of the user management information managed by the information management device 40.

[0143] As shown in Fig. 16(a), in this table, a column (row) is provided for each of a plurality of users as user management information. Also, a record (column) is provided for each user identifier and attribute information. In this case, the plurality of users includes not only the user who uses the user terminal 30, but also other people who request to view the first health information using the second processing device 20.

[0144] The user identifier is unique identification information assigned to each user in order to identify each of the multiple users. The attribute information is information indicating the attributes of each user. There is no particular limitation on the type of information to be used as the attribute information, and it can be determined arbitrarily depending on the purpose of the information sharing system S. For example, as exemplified in the above-described embodiment, if the first health information is viewed by a medical professional, each piece of information indicating the characteristics of the medical professional, such as the medical qualifications held by the medical professional, the medical department, the length of time the medical professional has worked in the medical field, the location of the medical facility where the medical professional works, and the gender, is considered to be attribute information.

[0145] Furthermore, the correspondence between users and attribute information may be a one-to-one relationship, or may be a one-to-many relationship as shown in the figure. In other words, only one piece of attribute information (for example, only medical qualification) may be set for one user, or multiple pieces of attribute information (for example, medical qualification, medical department, and location of the medical facility where the user works) may be set. This allows viewing conditions to be set from various perspectives based on various attribute information, and allows settings that more precisely reflect the user's intentions.

[0146] Then, the user information management unit 451 sets attribute information indicating the attributes of each user in each field (cell) where a column and a record intersect, based on the user information acquired from each device, such as the first processing device 10, the second processing device 20, and the user terminal 30. For example, when the attribute A is "medical qualification", attribute information indicating the medical qualification held by each user (for example, "A-1" for a doctor, "A-2" for a pharmacist, ..., "A-10" for a home helper, etc.) is set in the column of the attribute A and the field (cell) of each user.

[0147] The user management conditions thus set are managed in the information management device 40 in the format of this table, for example. Although not shown in the figure, authentication information such as a password and information such as a contact email address may be further included in the user management information.

[0148] Next, the viewing conditions in this modification will be described. When the viewing condition setting unit 353 receives an instruction to set viewing conditions for viewing the first health information from the user using the user terminal 30, the viewing condition setting unit 353 sets the viewing conditions in the information management device 40. The user using the user terminal 30 can set these viewing conditions at his / her own discretion. An example of the viewing conditions will be described with reference to FIG. 16(b). Here, FIG. 16(b) is a table showing an example of viewing conditions set by the user terminal 30 and managed by the information management device 40 in this modification.

[0149] 16(b), in this table, a column (row) is provided for each of the multiple first health information as the viewed information. Also, a record (column) is provided for each attribute of a viewer who may view the viewed information using the second processing device 20.

[0150] Then, the viewing condition setting unit 353 sets information indicating whether viewing is possible, such as "viewable" or "not viewable", for each field (cell) where a column and a record intersect, based on a setting instruction from a user using the user terminal 30. For example, if the user wishes to allow doctors and pharmacists to view the first health information a, but not allow other medically qualified persons to view it, the user sets attributes A-1 and A-2 to "viewable" and the other attributes A-3 to A-10 to "not viewable". In this way, the viewing conditions are set including whether or not viewing is permitted for a combination of a first processing device 10 (a piece of first health information acquired by the first processing device 10) and a viewer having a certain attribute.

[0151] The browsing conditions set in this manner are managed in the information management device 40, for example, in the format of this table. Note that this table corresponds to the browsing conditions set for one user, and if there are multiple users, multiple tables similar to this table are created corresponding to each of the multiple users. Also, this table is set for attribute A, but tables similar to this table may be created for other attributes (for example, attributes B to N).

[0152] Then, in this modified example, when executing the series of processes for information sharing described above with reference to Figures 9 to 12, the request to view the first health information sent from the second processing device 20 further includes the user identifier of the viewer as information for identifying which user the viewer is. The determination unit 453 that has received this viewing request identifies the attributes of the viewer by referring to user management information such as the example shown in Fig. 16(a). Then, the determination unit 453 determines whether or not the viewer is permitted to view at least a part of the first health information requested to be viewed, based on the identified attributes of the viewer and the viewing conditions such as the example shown in Fig. 16(b). In this modified example, it is possible to determine whether or not to permit viewing based on the criteria of what kind of person has made the viewing request. Therefore, the viewing destination of health information can be set more flexibly, and it becomes easier to reflect the user's intention.

[0153] This modified example may be further modified. For example, viewing may be permitted on the condition that all of the multiple attributes are determined to be "viewable". For example, a user may wish to permit viewing only to viewers who meet multiple conditions, such as a medical qualification of "home helper" and "same gender" as the user. In this case, viewing is permitted only when the attribute indicating the medical qualification is determined to be "viewable" and the attribute indicating the gender is also determined to be "viewable". In addition, viewing may be permitted on the condition that various attributes, such as having the same chronic disease as the user, being close to the user's age, having given birth, and having test results for a disease similar to those of the user, are determined to be "viewable". In this way, by making a determination taking into account a plurality of attributes, it is possible to reflect the user's intention in more detail. For example, it is possible to reflect the user's intention that the first health information be viewed by a medical professional in a similar situation to the user, and that such a medical professional be involved in the user's case.

[0154] As described above, the attribute information can be arbitrarily determined according to the use of the information sharing system S. For example, assume that the use of the information sharing system S is to form a community by mutually referencing the first health information between patients suffering from the same disease. In this case, information indicating the disease is managed as the attribute information. Then, the user allows only viewers suffering from the same disease to "view" the user's information (for example, the user's contact information). This makes it possible to form a community in which patients suffering from the same disease mutually refer to the first health information. In particular, when the disease is a special one, mutual viewing of the first health information makes it possible to collect information that is useful for the patients and medical professionals dealing with the disease. In addition, for example, when forming a community for collecting information by mutually viewing the first health information in this way, it may be useful to be able to collect the progress of the first health information after the user's illness is cured. Therefore, even after the attribute information has been changed due to the user's illness being cured, for example, the first health information may be mutually viewed for a certain period of time.

[0155] Another example of the application is when a user requests a certain task from an expert. In this case, information indicating the expert's skills is managed as attribute information. Then, the user's information (e.g., the user's contact information) is made "viewable" only to viewers who are suitable for the task the user wants to request (i.e., viewers who have suitable skills as attribute information). This makes it possible to make the contact information of a user who wishes to request a task viewable only to appropriate viewers. In other words, it becomes possible to allow the information of a user who wishes to request a task to be viewed only by experts who are able to accept the request. In this way, by appropriately setting attribute information, it becomes possible to use the information sharing system S to browse information that reflects the user's intentions in a wider range of applications.

[0156] [Variation 6] In the above-described embodiment, the viewing condition is set as to whether or not viewing is permitted for each combination of the first processing device 10 and the second processing device 20. Alternatively, in the above-described modified example 5, the viewing condition is set as to whether or not viewing is permitted for each combination of the first processing device 10 and the attributes of the viewer. In this way, by setting the viewing conditions in advance, it is possible to appropriately view information that reflects the user's intentions. However, it may be difficult to set in advance whether or not viewing is possible for all combinations. Also, there may be cases where the user wants to review whether or not viewing is possible after the fact.

[0157] Therefore, for example, when the viewing conditions are determined to be "viewing prohibited," a request for viewing permission may be made to the user. This eliminates the need for the user to determine whether or not to permit viewing for all combinations in advance, and the user can determine whether or not to permit viewing only when a request for permission to view is made. Also, the user can review whether or not to permit viewing when a request for permission to view is made. In this case, the operations of the information management device 40 and the user terminal 30 may be modified as shown in the following FIGS.

[0158] Fig. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations during processing for information sharing executed by the information management device 40 in this modified example. In the following description with reference to Fig. 17, duplicated descriptions of processes common to the processes in Fig. 12 described above (i.e., processes with common reference numerals attached to steps) will be omitted.

[0159] In step S47, if the viewing condition is "viewing prohibited" and thus the judgment unit 453 does not permit viewing, the result of step S47 is No, and the process proceeds to step S61.

[0160] In step S61, viewing control unit 454 transmits a viewing permission request to user terminal 30 in order to request permission to view the first health information from the user corresponding to the first health information for which a viewing request has been made.

[0161] In step S62, the viewing control unit 454 judges whether or not the response to the viewing permission request indicates that viewing is permitted. If viewing is permitted, the result of the judgment in step S62 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S48. Then, as described above, the process from step S48 onwards is performed, whereby the first health information is viewed. On the other hand, if viewing is not permitted (i.e., viewing is not permitted), a No determination is made in step S62, and the process proceeds to step S29. Then, as described above, the processes from step S50 onwards are performed, and the first health information is not viewed.

[0162] FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the flow of operations during processing for information sharing executed by the user terminal 30 in this modified example. In the following description with reference to FIG. 18, duplicated description of processes common to the above-described process in FIG. 11 (that is, processes having the same reference numerals assigned to steps) will be omitted.

[0163] In step S71, the viewing condition setting unit 353 judges whether or not a permission request to view the first health information has been received from the information management device 40. If a permission request to view the first health information has been received, the result in step S71 is judged as Yes, and the process proceeds to step S72. On the other hand, if a permission request to view the first health information has not been received, the result in step S71 is judged as No, and the process proceeds to step S37.

[0164] In step S72, the viewing condition setting unit 353 notifies the user that a request for permission to view the first health information has been accepted, and accepts a setting instruction from the user as to whether or not to permit viewing. The viewing condition setting unit 353 then determines whether the content of the setting instruction accepted from the user is to permit viewing of the first health information. If viewing of the first health information is permitted, the result of step S72 is Yes, and the process proceeds to step S74. On the other hand, if viewing of the first health information is not permitted (i.e., viewing is not permitted), the result of step S72 is No, and the process proceeds to step S73.

[0165] In step S73, the viewing condition setting unit 353 transmits to the information management device 40 a response to the viewing permission request, indicating that viewing is not permitted. In step S74, the viewing condition setting unit 353 transmits a message to the information management device 40 indicating that viewing is permitted, in response to the request for permission to view.

[0166] In step S75, the viewing condition setting unit 353 sets the viewing conditions so that the combination permitted for viewing this time is "viewable" by communicating with the information management device 40. As a result, the combination permitted for viewing this time is reflected in the viewing conditions, and viewing will be permitted thereafter. If the current viewing is permitted, but a request for permission to view again is to be accepted for subsequent viewings, step S75 may be omitted and viewing conditions may not be set.

[0167] In this way, according to this modification, the user does not need to decide in advance whether or not to permit viewing for all combinations, and only needs to decide whether or not to permit viewing when a request for permission to view is made. Also, when a request for permission to view is made, the user can review whether or not to permit viewing.

[0168] [Configuration example] As described above, the information sharing system S according to this embodiment includes the viewing condition management unit 452, the determination unit 453, and the viewing control unit 454. The viewing condition management unit 452 manages viewing conditions for health information, which is information relating to the user's health, based on the user's settings. When the judgment unit 453 receives a request to view first health information from the second processing device 20, which is at least a part of the health information and is health information used for processing by the first processing device 10, the judgment unit 453 judges whether to allow viewing based on the viewing conditions managed by the viewing condition management unit 452. When viewing is permitted by the determination unit 453, the viewing control unit 454 allows the second processing device 20 to view the first health information.

[0169] In this way, the information sharing system S allows the first health information handled by the first processing device 10 to be viewed in the second processing device 20 that performs other processing, thereby realizing information sharing. In this case, the information sharing system S does not allow the second processing device 20 to view the information without restrictions, but determines whether or not the information can be viewed based on the viewing conditions set by the user himself. This allows the user to arbitrarily select the viewing destination of health information, which is required to be handled particularly carefully among various personal information, at his / her own will. Furthermore, the information sharing system S can share the health information in multiple processes after improving the confidentiality and availability of the information by reflecting such a selection based on the user's will. Furthermore, according to the information sharing system S, the viewing conditions can be managed in a unified manner by the viewing control unit 454. Therefore, the first processing device 10 and the second processing device 20 can eliminate the need for processing to manage the viewing conditions and processing to determine whether or not to permit viewing. Therefore, according to the information sharing system S according to the embodiment of the present invention, information about a user can be appropriately shared among a plurality of processes.

[0170] The first health information is managed by the first processing device 10, If viewing is permitted, the viewing control unit 454 acquires the first health information from the first processing device 10, and allows the second processing device 20 to view the acquired first health information. As a result, the viewing control unit 454 and the second processing device 20 do not need to manage the first health information handled in the processing by the first processing device 10. As a result, the viewing control unit 454 and the second processing device 20 can eliminate the need for processing such as storing the first health information and updating the first health information in synchronization with the first processing device 10.

[0171] The viewing control unit 454 realizes viewing by causing the second processing device 20 to display an image into which the first health information has been converted. This makes it possible to achieve the purpose of viewing on the second processing device 20, and also to prevent the first health information itself from being edited erroneously in the viewing control unit 454 or the second processing device 20, or from being tampered with in a communication path, etc. Therefore, it is possible to more appropriately protect the health-related information while improving the integrity of the information.

[0172] There are a plurality of first processing devices 10 and / or a plurality of second processing devices 20; The viewing condition management unit 452 manages whether or not viewing is permitted for each combination of each first processing device 10 and each second processing device 20 as a viewing condition. This allows information about the user to be shared more appropriately for a larger number of processes.

[0173] The viewing condition management unit 452 manages, as a viewing condition, whether or not viewing is permitted based on attribute information, which is information on the attributes of a viewer who has made a viewing request using the second processing device 20. This allows the decision as to whether or not to permit access to the health information to be made based on the criteria of the attributes of the person who has made the access request, making it possible to set the access destination of the health information more flexibly and making it easier to reflect the user's intentions.

[0174] When viewing is not permitted by the judgment unit 453, the viewing control unit 454 requests permission to view the first health information from the user corresponding to the first health information for which the viewing request has been made, and when viewing is permitted in response to the permission request, allows the second processing device 20 to view the first health information. This eliminates the need for the user to determine whether or not to permit browsing for all the second processing devices 20 in advance, and only determines whether or not to permit browsing when a browsing request is made. In other words, the user can more easily set the browsing conditions.

[0175] The first processing device 10 performs processing related to a predetermined function of the terminal used by the user, and acquires first health information in the processing related to the predetermined function. This makes it possible to acquire the first health information in relation to processing related to a function of the terminal used by the user.

[0176] The viewing condition management unit 452 allows at least a part of the viewing conditions managed by the viewing condition management unit 452 to be set by a person other than the user on behalf of the user. This allows medical professionals who provide medical guidance and treatment to users, as well as family members of users, Therefore, other people can set the viewing conditions. Therefore, health information that is not desirable for the user to manage (for example, the name of a disease that has not been disclosed to the user, or test results of specialized tests that the user does not need to know) can be managed by other people.

[0177] The viewing condition management unit 452 distributes and stores the viewing conditions in a plurality of information processing devices, and manages the viewing conditions based on the consistency between the distributed and stored information. This makes it possible to manage viewing conditions while ensuring high security, for example, by using technology such as blockchain.

[0178] The above-described series of processes can be executed by hardware or software. In other words, the functional configurations in the above-described embodiments are merely examples and are not particularly limited. In other words, it is sufficient that any of the computers constituting the information sharing system S has a function capable of executing the above-described series of processes as a whole, and the type of functional block used to realize this function is not particularly limited to the examples shown. Furthermore, one functional block may be configured as a single piece of hardware, a single piece of software, or a combination of both.

[0179] In addition, the recording medium containing the program for executing the series of processes described above may be composed not only of a removable medium distributed separately from the device body in order to provide the program to the user, but also of a recording medium etc. provided to the user in a state in which it is pre-installed in the device body.

[0180] Furthermore, the effects described in the above-mentioned embodiments are merely a list of the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the present embodiments. [Explanation of symbols]

[0181] 10 First processing device, 20 Second processing device, 30 User terminal, 40 Information management device, 151 First processing control unit, 152 Viewing information generation unit, 171, 271, 371 User information storage unit, 172, 372 First health information storage unit, 251 Second processing execution unit, 252 Connection execution unit, 253 Viewing request unit, 272 Second health information storage unit, 351 First processing execution unit, 352 First health information acquisition unit, 353 Viewing condition setting unit, 451 User information management unit, 452 Viewing condition management unit, 453 Determination unit, 454 Viewing control unit, 471 User management information storage unit, 472 Viewing condition storage unit, 800 Information processing device, 811 CPU, 812 ROM, 813 RAM, 814 Bus, 815 Input unit, 816 Output unit, 817 Storage unit, 818 Communication unit, 819 Drive, 820 Sensor unit, 831 Removable media, BC Blockchain, N Network, S Information sharing system

Claims

1. A management means for managing viewing conditions of health information, which is information related to a user's health, based on settings of the user; a first processing means for providing a function of acquiring at least a part of the health information as first health information to a user terminal used by the user; a determination means for determining whether or not to permit the first health information to be viewed based on the viewing conditions managed by the management means when the request to view the first health information is received from the second processing means; a viewing means for, when viewing is permitted by the determining means, acquiring first health information acquired by the user terminal using the acquiring function from the user terminal via the first processing means, and allowing the second processing means to view the acquired first health information; An information sharing system comprising:

2. When viewing is permitted by the determination means, the first processing means extracts at least a portion of the first health information within the scope of disclosure according to the first processing means, which is set by the business entity that provides the function of obtaining the information by the first processing means, and causes the viewing means to obtain the information converted into a predetermined format suitable for viewing as information for viewing.

2. The information sharing system according to claim 1 .

3. The first processing means is present in plurality, The plurality of first processing means each provide a different function to the user terminal.

3. The information sharing system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The user terminal, A measuring means for measuring biological information of the user, acquiring, as the first health information, biological information of the user measured by the measurement means; 4. The information sharing system according to claim 1, wherein the information sharing system comprises: a first information sharing unit;

5. The management means manages, as the viewing condition, whether or not to permit the viewing based on attribute information which is information indicating attributes related to a health condition of the viewer who made the viewing request using the second processing means.

5. The information sharing system according to claim 1, wherein the information sharing system comprises: a first information sharing unit;

6. An information sharing method performed by an information sharing system, comprising: a management step of managing viewing conditions of health information, which is information related to the health of a user, based on settings of the user; a first processing step of providing a function of acquiring at least a part of the health information as first health information to a user terminal used by the user by a first processing means; a determination step of determining whether or not to permit viewing of the first health information based on the viewing conditions managed in the management step when a request to view the first health information is received from a second processing means; a viewing step of acquiring, from the user terminal via the first processing means, first health information acquired by the user terminal using the acquiring function when the viewing is permitted by the determining step, and causing the second processing means to view the acquired first health information; 13. An information sharing method comprising:

7. A management function for managing viewing conditions of health information, which is information related to a user's health, based on settings of the user; a first processing function that provides a function of acquiring at least a part of the health information as first health information to a user terminal used by the user by a first processing means; a determination function that, when a request to view the first health information is received from a second processing means, determines whether or not to permit viewing based on the viewing conditions managed by the management function; a viewing function that, when viewing is permitted by the determining function, obtains from the user terminal, via the first processing means, first health information obtained by the user terminal by the obtaining function, and allows the second processing means to view the obtained first health information; A program characterized by causing a computer to realize the above.

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