Information processing device

Abstract

To make it possible to restrict, for each user, the provision of data regarding the travel of a vehicle used by a plurality of users to a third party.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes a control unit. The control unit acquires user information indicating whether a first user permits first data related to travel received from a vehicle in which the first user is riding to be provided to a third party. If the first user permits the first data to be provided to the third party, the control unit transmits the first data to a third-party server. If the first user does not permit the first data to be provided to the third party, the control unit prohibits the first data from being transmitted to the third-party server.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device that collects data related to vehicle driving. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a sensor data management system. In the sensor data management system disclosed in Patent Document 1, a server that manages sensor data performs an anonymization process that individually anonymizes designated data items of the sensor data under designated conditions in accordance with the contents defined in an anonymization policy setting file. In addition, a combination of any data items of the sensor data, including the anonymized sensor data generated by the anonymization process, is transmitted to another server. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-241098 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present disclosure is to make it possible to restrict, for each user, the provision of data regarding the driving of a vehicle used by multiple users to a third party. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The information processing device according to the present disclosure includes: Receiving first data relating to travel from a vehicle; Identifying a first user who is in the vehicle; acquiring user information indicating whether the first user permits the first data received from the vehicle in which the first user is riding to be provided to a third party; A control unit that executes When the first user permits the first data to be provided to the third party in the user information, the control unit transmits the first data to a third party server; When the user information indicates that the first user does not permit the first data to be provided to the third party, the control unit prohibits the first data from being transmitted to the third party server. Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to restrict the provision of data related to driving of a vehicle used by multiple users to a third party for each user. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a data flow in a data providing system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the driving data transmitted from the vehicle to the management server. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the management server. [Figure 4] Fig. 4(a) is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of a schedule information database, and Fig. 4(b) is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of a user information database. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of information processing executed by the control unit of the management server in the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of information processing executed by a control unit of a management server in a modified example of the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] In recent years, efforts have been made to collect driving data (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "driving data") from many vehicles and utilize the collected driving data as big data. On the other hand, for example, a single vehicle may be used by multiple users, such as a vehicle for a car sharing service. In such a case, not all of the multiple users who use the vehicle may permit the vehicle's driving data while they are riding in the vehicle to be provided as big data. In other words, some of the multiple users who use a single vehicle may not permit the vehicle's driving data to be provided to a third party while they are riding in the vehicle. Here, the third party is a person who utilizes the collected driving data as big data. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a technology that enables the provision of data related to the driving of a vehicle used by multiple users to a third party to be restricted for each user.

[0009] The information processing device according to the present disclosure includes a control unit. The control unit receives first data from a vehicle. The first data is driving data. The first data may be acquired by various sensors mounted on the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling. The vehicle is a vehicle used by multiple users. The control unit identifies a first user who is riding in the vehicle. For example, the control unit may identify the first user who is riding in the vehicle based on information related to a vehicle usage schedule by each user. The control unit may also identify the first user who is riding in the vehicle by receiving from the vehicle a user ID that identifies the first user who is riding in the vehicle.

[0010] The control unit also acquires user information of the first user. Here, the user information includes information indicating whether the first user permits the first data received from the vehicle in which the first user is riding to be provided to a third party. Note that the first user may set at any timing whether or not to permit the first data of the vehicle in which the first user is riding to be provided to a third party.

[0011] Then, the control unit determines whether or not to transmit the first data received from the vehicle in which the first user is riding to the third-party server based on the user information of the first user. That is, if the user information indicates that the first user permits the first data to be provided to a third party, the control unit transmits the first data to the third-party server. On the other hand, if the user information indicates that the first user does not permit the first data to be provided to a third party, the control unit prohibits the first data from being transmitted to the third-party server. Here, the third-party server is a server device related to a third party who utilizes the traveling data as big data. Note that the control unit may transmit the first data received from the vehicle to the third-party server after some processing has been performed, rather than in its original state.

[0012] According to the present disclosure, if the first user does not permit the first data of the vehicle he or she is riding in to be provided to a third party, the first data is not transmitted to the third party server. In other words, only if the first user permits the first data of the vehicle he or she is riding in to be provided to a third party, the first data can be transmitted to the third party server.

[0013] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative positions of the components described in the present embodiments are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure unless otherwise specified.

[0014] <Embodiment> (System Overview) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the flow of data in a data providing system according to this embodiment. The data providing system 1 is a system for collecting driving data from a vehicle 10 and providing the collected driving data to a third party. The vehicle 10 is a vehicle for a car sharing service. In other words, the vehicle 10 is used by multiple users who receive the car sharing service. Multiple users who can use the vehicle 10 may be registered in advance. Note that the vehicle 10 does not necessarily have to be a vehicle for a car sharing service, and may be a vehicle that can be used individually by multiple users.

[0015] The data providing system 1 includes a vehicle 10, a management server 100, and a third-party server 200. The management server 100 is a server device that collects driving data from the vehicle 10. The third-party server 200 is a server device related to a third party that utilizes the driving data of the vehicle 10 as big data. In this embodiment, the management server 100 corresponds to the "information processing device" according to the present disclosure. Furthermore, the data providing system 1 may include multiple vehicles 10, and the management server 100 may collect driving data from each of the multiple vehicles 10.

[0016] The vehicle 10, the management server 100, and the third-party server 200 are connected to each other via a network. Here, the network may be, for example, a WAN (Wide Area Network) which is a public communication network such as the Internet, or a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone. The network may also include a telephone communication network such as a mobile phone, or a wireless communication network such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

[0017] The vehicle 10 includes various sensors for acquiring driving data. The vehicle 10 transmits the driving data acquired while traveling to the management server 100 at a predetermined timing. For example, the vehicle 10 may transmit the driving data to the management server 100 periodically at a predetermined interval while traveling.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the traveling data transmitted from the vehicle 10 to the management server 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the traveling data has a vehicle ID field, a date and time field, a position field, a speed field, an acceleration field, and the like. In the vehicle ID field, a vehicle ID, which is identification information for identifying the vehicle 10 that is the transmission source of the traveling data, is input. In the date and time field, information on the date and time when the traveling data was acquired in the vehicle 10 is input. In the position field, position information of the vehicle 10 is input. In the speed field, speed information of the vehicle 10 is input. In the acceleration field, acceleration information of the vehicle 10 is input. In addition, the traveling data may include information on ON and OFF of the start button (or ignition switch) of the vehicle 10. In addition, the traveling data may include image information captured by a camera mounted on the vehicle 10. Note that the traveling data does not necessarily have to be data acquired by a sensor mounted on the vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the traveling data corresponds to the "first data" according to the present disclosure.

[0019] In addition, the management server 100 transmits the traveling data of the vehicle 10 to the third-party server 200 in response to a request from a third party. This allows the third party to receive the traveling data to be utilized as big data. However, at least some of the multiple users who use the vehicle 10 may not permit the traveling data of the vehicle 10 they are riding in to be provided to a third party. In other words, the user riding in the vehicle 10 may be a user who permits the traveling data of the vehicle 10 they are riding in to be provided to a third party. On the other hand, the user riding in the vehicle 10 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as an "authorized user") may be a user who does not permit the traveling data of the vehicle 10 they are riding in to be provided to a third party (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as an "unauthorized user").

[0020] Therefore, in this embodiment, the first user who is riding in the vehicle 10 is identified. Then, the management server 100 transmits the driving data of the vehicle 10 when the riding first user is an authorized user to the third-party server 200. On the other hand, the management server 100 prohibits the transmission of the driving data of the vehicle 10 to the third-party server 200 when the riding first user is an unauthorized user.

[0021] (Administration Server Configuration) Next, the configuration of the management server 100 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the management server 100. The management server 100 includes a control unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a communication module 130. The control unit 110 has a function of performing arithmetic processing for controlling the management server 100. The control unit 110 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 110 includes a processor such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a main storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and an auxiliary storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory). The CPU is an example of a processor resource. The RAM and ROM are also examples of memory resources. The control unit 110 can execute any information processing based on various programs and various data. However, some or all of the functions of the control unit 110 may be realized by hardware circuits such as ASIC and FPGA.

[0022] The storage unit 120 is configured by any storage device such as a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk drive, or a flash memory. The storage unit 120 may include a removable medium (portable recording medium). Here, the removable medium is, for example, a USB memory, an SD card, or a disk recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, or a Blu-ray disk. The storage unit 120 stores programs executed by the control unit 110 and various data used for executing the programs.

[0023] A database is constructed in the storage unit 120 to store the traveling data 121 received from the vehicle 10. When the data providing system 1 includes a plurality of vehicles 10, the traveling data 121 is stored for each vehicle 10 in this database.

[0024] In addition, the storage unit 120 has a database (schedule information database) that stores schedule information 122 and a database (user information database) that stores user information 123. The schedule information 122 is information related to the usage schedule of the vehicle 10 by each user. The user information is information indicating whether each user permits the provision of the traveling data 121 received from the vehicle 10 in which the user is riding to a third party.

[0025] FIG. 4(a) is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the schedule information database. FIG. 4(b) is a diagram showing an example of a table configuration of the user information database. As shown in FIG. 4(a), the schedule information database has a vehicle ID field, a user ID field, and a usage date and time field. A vehicle ID, which is identification information for identifying the vehicle 10, is input into the vehicle ID field. A user ID, which is identification information for identifying each user who uses the vehicle 10, is input into the user ID field. The usage date and time of the vehicle 10 by each user is input into the usage date and time field. When the user reserves the use of the vehicle 10, the scheduled usage date and time registered by the user and the user ID may be input into the schedule information database. In addition, when the user finishes using the vehicle 10, the schedule information database may be input with the usage record date and time registered by the user and the user ID.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 4(b), the user information database includes a user ID field, and a provision permission field. A user ID, which is identification information for identifying each user who uses the vehicle 10, is input into the user ID field. Information indicating whether each user has permitted the provision of the traveling data 121 received from the vehicle 10 in which the user is riding to a third party is input into the provision permission field. Information registered in advance by the user is input into the user information database. Each user may register user information via a user terminal associated with the user.

[0027] The communication module 130 is a communication interface for connecting the management server 100 to a network. The communication module 130 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) interface board or a wireless communication circuit for wireless communication. Note that the management server 100 does not necessarily have to be realized by a single physical configuration, and may be configured by multiple computers that cooperate with each other.

[0028] (Information processing flow) Next, the flow of information processing executed in the management server 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of information processing executed by the control unit 110. This flow is executed in a state where the travel data 121 of the vehicle 10 is stored in a database constructed in the storage unit 120. For example, the control unit 110 may execute this flow when a data provision request is received from the third-party server 200. The control unit 110 may also execute this flow every time a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

[0029] In this flow, first, in S101, data that may be the subject of data transmission to the third party server 200 (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as "target data") is identified from the traveling data 121 of the vehicle 10 stored in the database of the storage unit 120. For example, the target data may be identified based on the date and time when the traveling data 121 was acquired by the vehicle 10. In addition, a predetermined condition for identifying the target data may be included in the data provision request transmitted from the third party server 200 to the management server 100. In this case, the target data is identified based on the predetermined condition included in the data provision request.

[0030] Next, in S102, a first user who was in the vehicle 10 when the target data identified in S101 was acquired in the vehicle 10 is identified. Specifically, a user who was using the vehicle 10 at the acquisition date and time of the data in the vehicle 10 included in the target data is identified as the first user. At this time, the control unit 110 identifies the first user by referring to the schedule information 122 stored in the schedule information database.

[0031] Next, in S103, the user information 123 of the first user identified in S102 is acquired from the user information database. Specifically, the user information corresponding to the user ID of the first user is extracted from the user information database. Next, in S104, it is determined whether the first user is an authorized user or an unauthorized user. Specifically, the control unit 110 determines whether the first user permits the provision of the traveling data 121 received from the vehicle 10 in which the first user is riding to a third party by referring to the provision permission field of the user information 123 acquired in S103.

[0032] If the determination in S104 is affirmative, that is, if the first user is an authorized user, the process of S105 is then executed. In S105, the target data is transmitted to the third-party server 200. At this time, the control unit 110 may transmit the target data to the third-party server 200 after processing the traveling data 121 stored in the database of the storage unit 120 in accordance with a request from the third party.

[0033] On the other hand, if the determination in S104 is negative, that is, if the first user is an unauthorized user, If there is, the process of S106 is then executed. In S106, the transmission of the target data to the third party server 200 is prohibited.

[0034] According to the above flow, the driving data 121 of the vehicle 10 when the first user in the vehicle is an unauthorized user is not transmitted to the third-party server 200. In other words, only the driving data 121 of the vehicle 10 when the first user in the vehicle is an authorized user is transmitted to the third-party server 200. Therefore, it is possible to restrict, for each user, the provision of data related to the driving of the vehicle 10 used by multiple users to a third party.

[0035] The vehicle 10 may be equipped with an in-vehicle terminal 11 that can be operated by a user in the vehicle 10. In this case, the in-vehicle terminal is a computer having a processor such as a CPU, a storage device such as a RAM, a ROM, a hard disk drive, and a flash memory, and a communication module. The in-vehicle terminal is connected to the management server 100 via a network.

[0036] In this case, the user in the vehicle 10 may input user information to the in-vehicle terminal. That is, the user in the vehicle 10 may input information indicating whether or not the user permits the travel data 121 received from the vehicle 10 in which the user is riding to be provided to a third party to the in-vehicle terminal. Then, the user information may be transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal to the management server 100. When the management server 100 receives the user information from the in-vehicle terminal, the management server 100 stores the received user information in a user information database.

[0037] (Modification) A modified example of this embodiment will be described below. In this modified example, it is assumed that the provider who provides the car sharing service to users is the owner of the vehicle 10. In this case, the owner of the vehicle 10 does not necessarily have to be a person, and may be a corporation or the like.

[0038] Here, the owner of the vehicle 10 may enter into a contract with a third party to provide the third party with the traveling data 121 of the vehicle 10 when the user uses the vehicle 10. When such a contract exists, the traveling data 121 acquired in the vehicle 10 and transmitted to the management server 100 is usually transmitted from the management server 100 to the third-party server 200, regardless of which user is currently riding in the vehicle 10. However, even in such a case, the owner of the vehicle 10 may set the user to be able to select whether or not to permit the traveling data 121 of the vehicle 10 that the user is riding in to be provided to a third party. If the owner of the vehicle 10 has made such a setting, the management server 100 can perform information processing similar to that of the above embodiment.

[0039] Therefore, in this modification, an owner information database that stores owner information is constructed in the storage unit 120 of the management server 100. Here, the owner information is information indicating whether or not the owner of the vehicle 10 has set the user to be able to select whether or not to permit the travel data 121 of the vehicle 10 in which the user is riding to be provided to a third party. Then, in the management server 100, the control unit 110 refers to the owner information stored in the owner information database.

[0040] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a part of the flow of information processing executed by the control unit 110 in this modified example. In this flow, the processes executed in each step from S101 to S106 are similar to the processes executed in the steps with the same reference numbers in the flowchart shown in Fig. 5. Therefore, the description of these steps will be omitted, and the processes in S201 and S202 will be described.

[0041] In this flow, the process of S201 is executed after S101. In S201, the owner information of the owner of the vehicle 10 is acquired from the owner information database. Next, in S202, the owner information acquired in S201 is referenced to determine whether the owner of the vehicle 10 has set the user to be able to select whether or not to permit the traveling data 121 of the vehicle 10 in which the user is riding to be provided to a third party.

[0042] If the determination in S202 is affirmative, that is, if the user can select whether or not to permit the travel data 121 of the vehicle 10 in which the user is riding to be provided to a third party, the process of S102 is then executed. On the other hand, if the determination in S104 is negative, the process of S105 is then executed.

[0043] According to the above flow, if the owner of the vehicle 10 has set the vehicle 10 to be able to select whether or not the user riding in the vehicle 10 allows the travel data 121 to be provided to a third party, the same information processing as in the above embodiment is executed. That is, whether to transmit the travel data 121 to the third-party server 200 or to prohibit the transmission of the travel data 121 to the third-party server 200 is determined based on the user information.

[0044] <Other embodiments> The above embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure may be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the processes and means described in the present disclosure may be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0045] Furthermore, a process described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, a process described as being performed by different devices may be executed by one device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration (server configuration) by which each function is realized can be flexibly changed.

[0046] The present disclosure can also be realized by supplying a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors of the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer by a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the system bus of the computer, or may be provided to the computer via a network. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includes any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions, such as, for example, a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a Blu-ray disk, etc.), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, or an optical card. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1. Data provision system 10. Vehicle 100 Management Server 110 Control unit 120...Storage section 121··Driving data 122··Schedule Information 123··User Information 130 Communication module 200: Third Party Server

Claims

1. Receiving first data relating to travel from a vehicle; Identifying a first user who is in the vehicle; acquiring user information indicating whether the first user permits the first data received from the vehicle in which the first user is riding to be provided to a third party; A control unit that executes When the first user permits the first data to be provided to the third party in the user information, the control unit transmits the first data to a third party server; When the first user has not permitted the first data to be provided to the third party in the user information, the control unit prohibits the first data from being transmitted to the third party server. Information processing device.

2. The control unit further executes acquiring owner information indicating whether an owner of the vehicle has set a setting so that a user riding in the vehicle can select whether or not to permit the first data to be provided to the third party, When the owner information is set to allow a user who is riding in the vehicle to select whether or not to permit the owner of the vehicle to provide the first data to the third party, the control unit determines, based on the user information, whether to transmit the first data to the third-party server or to prohibit the transmission of the first data to the third-party server. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The method further includes the step of:

3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the user information is input to an in-vehicle terminal of the vehicle by the first user who is in the vehicle; The control unit receives the user information from the in-vehicle terminal.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The vehicle is a vehicle for a car sharing service.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2.

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