Information providing apparatus, method, and program
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2023149064
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-09-14
- Publication Date
- 2025-03-27
Smart Images
Figure 2025042200000001_ABST
Abstract
Description
[Technical field]
[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for providing service users with expert comments on the terms of use of a service, and in particular to a technology that can be suitably used when a service user determines whether or not to agree to updated terms of use when the terms of use are updated. [Background technology]
[0002] Nowadays, when using a service over a network, the service user must agree to the terms of use. However, since the terms of use are lengthy and filled with difficult legal terms, it is tedious to read them, and it is expected that many service users agree to the terms of use without actually reading them.
[0003] Generally, when using a service over a network, it is often difficult for service users to understand the contents of the terms of use, which places a heavy burden on them.
[0004] In this regard, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an expert comment providing system that can reduce the burden on service users when agreeing to the terms of use of a service they wish to use by providing expert comments on the terms of use. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0005] Patent No. 6946598 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0006] However, service users often use multiple services via the above-mentioned network, and the terms of use are often updated as necessary. As a result, it has become common for service users to frequently receive notices of updates to the terms of use for the services they use. It is difficult and a heavy burden for service users to understand the content of the new terms of use and the differences between the old and new terms of use every time the terms of use are updated.
[0007] For this reason, there was a need for a system that would reduce the burden on service users when updating terms of use.
[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the burden on service users when agreeing to updated terms of use when the terms of use are updated. [Means for solving the problem]
[0009] In order to solve the above problems, an information providing device relating to terms of use according to the present invention includes, as one aspect thereof, An information providing device for providing a service user with judgment information regarding consent to terms of use of a service, an update detection unit that detects updates to the terms of use of a predetermined service; a terms of use acquisition unit that acquires the new and old versions of the terms of use of the specified service detected by the update detection unit (hereinafter, the new version of the terms of use is referred to as the "new terms of use" and the old version of the terms of use is referred to as the "old terms of use"); a difference creation unit that creates a difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use acquired by the terms of use acquisition unit; a difference comment receiving unit that receives a comment on the difference created by the difference creating unit (hereinafter referred to as a "difference comment"); a judgment information providing unit that creates judgment information including the difference created by the difference comment receiving unit and the difference comment received by the difference comment receiving unit, and provides the created judgment information to a service user who is using the predetermined service for which the update detection unit has detected an update; The gist of the project is to provide the following:
[0010] In order to solve the above problems, a method for providing information regarding terms of use according to the present invention includes, as one aspect thereof, An information providing method for providing a service user with judgment information regarding consent to terms of use of a service, comprising: An update detection step of detecting an update to the terms of use of a predetermined service; a terms of use acquisition step of acquiring the new and old versions of the terms of use of the predetermined service detected in the update detection step (hereinafter, the new version of the terms of use is referred to as the "new terms of use" and the old version of the terms of use is referred to as the "old terms of use"); a difference creation step of creating a difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use acquired in the terms of use acquisition step; a difference comment receiving step of receiving a comment on the difference created in the difference creating step (hereinafter referred to as a "difference comment"); a judgment information providing step of creating judgment information including the difference created in the difference comment creating step and the difference comment accepted by the difference comment accepting unit, and providing the created judgment information to a service user who is using the predetermined service for which the update detecting unit has detected an update; The gist of the project is to provide the following:
[0011] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an information providing program for terms of use, as one aspect thereof, An information providing program for providing a service user with judgment information regarding consent to terms of use of a service, Computer, an update detection unit that detects updates to the terms of use of a predetermined service; a terms of use acquisition unit that acquires the new and old versions of the terms of use of the specified service detected by the update detection unit (hereinafter, the new version of the terms of use is referred to as the "new terms of use" and the old version of the terms of use is referred to as the "old terms of use"); a difference creation unit that creates a difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use acquired by the terms of use acquisition unit; a difference comment receiving unit that receives a comment on the difference created by the difference creating unit (hereinafter referred to as a "difference comment"); a judgment information providing unit that creates judgment information including the difference created by the difference comment creating unit and the difference comment accepted by the difference comment accepting unit, and provides the created judgment information to a service user who is using the predetermined service for which an update has been detected by the update detecting unit; The gist of the project is to function as such. Effect of the Invention
[0012] According to the present invention, when the terms of use are updated, the burden on the service user in agreeing to the updated terms of use can be reduced. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information providing system for terms of use according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a correlation diagram of entities involved in an information providing system for terms of use according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 1 is a functional configuration diagram of a terms of use management device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] 1A is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the data structure of a master DB according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the data structure of a latest version management DB according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1C is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the data structure of a terms of use DB according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5]FIG. 1A is a diagram showing a schematic data structure of a usage service management DB according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a schematic data structure of a comment DB according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 1C is a diagram showing a schematic data structure of a difference comment DB according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 8 is an example of a screen of a user terminal showing the function of a first determination information providing unit of the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention, together with FIG. [Figure 7] 7 is an example of a screen of a user terminal showing the function of a first determination information providing unit of the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention, together with FIG. [Figure 8] 9 and 10 are examples of screens of a user terminal showing functions of a second determination information providing unit in the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 8 is an example of a screen of a user terminal showing the function of a second determination information providing unit of the information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 2A is a functional configuration diagram of a service providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a functional configuration diagram of a user terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of a terms of use update process in the information providing system for terms of use according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0015] <Configuration of the information provision system for terms of use> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information providing system (hereinafter, simply abbreviated as "information providing system") 100 relating to an embodiment of the present invention. The information providing system 100 is an information providing system that provides a service user who uses a specific service (e.g., a specific online service, etc.) with judgment information on whether or not to agree to the new terms of use (hereinafter, simply abbreviated as "terms of use" in this embodiment) when the terms of use and privacy policy of the specific service are updated. Hereinafter, the service that the information providing system 100 provides to the service user is referred to as a "terms of use judgment information providing service" (hereinafter, simply abbreviated as "judgment information providing service").
[0016] Here, the judgment information includes, for example, comments and evaluations of experts regarding the update of the terms of use of the service (hereinafter, simply referred to as "comments"). In this embodiment, the new terms of use to be updated are referred to as "new terms of use", and the terms of use applied before the update are referred to as "old terms of use". More specifically, the judgment information includes the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use (specifically, the changes, additions, and deletions. Hereinafter, they may be simply referred to as "differences") and comments regarding the differences (hereinafter, they may be referred to as "difference comments"). The comments regarding the new terms of use (hereinafter, they may be referred to as "new comments") may be used as judgment information. Since the service user can use this judgment information when updating the terms of use of the service that he or she uses, he or she can refer to the opinions of experts and reduce the burden of judgment on whether or not to agree to the new terms of use. In this embodiment, as described later, the judgment information consisting of the new comments may be referred to as "first judgment information", and the judgment information consisting of the differences and difference comments may be referred to as "second judgment information".
[0017] In addition, an expert is preferably someone who can provide opinions, comments, evaluations, etc. on the legal interpretation of the terms of use, such as a lawyer, but in a broad sense, is not limited to this and may include anyone, including service users, who posts comments and evaluations on the terms of use to the information provision system 100.
[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system 100 includes a terms of use management device 1 managed by a terms of use management business operator, a service providing device 2 managed by a service provider, a user terminal 3A used by a service user, and a user terminal 3B used by an expert. The terms of use management device 1 is a server device that controls the entire information providing system 100, and is an information providing device that provides judgment information to a service user while cooperating with the service providing device 2 when updating terms of use. The service providing device 2 is a server device for providing a predetermined service to a service user. Each device constituting the information providing system 100 can communicate with each other via a communication network 4 consisting of, for example, the Internet network, a public network, a local area network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), and the like. In this embodiment, the user terminals 3A and 3B are collectively referred to as user terminals 3.
[0019] <Outline of the judgment information provision service> Before describing each component device of the information provision system 100, the flow of the judgment information provision service will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a correlation diagram of the subjects related to the information provision system 100, and shows the flow of the judgment information provision service.
[0020] First, as a premise, in the information providing system 100, a service user applies for and registers one or more services that the service user uses with a terms of use management business. For example, specifically, the service user logs into the information providing system 100 using a user terminal 3A, and then registers information (e.g., service, version, etc.) related to one or more services that the service user uses in the information providing system 100 (specifically, the terms of use management device 1) via a service registration screen (not shown). This allows the information providing system 100 to grasp the services that the service user uses.
[0021] Below, we will explain the flow of the judgment information provision service when the terms of use of a specific service (e.g., service SA) provided by a specific service provider (e.g., service provider XA) are updated when the service used by the service user is registered in the information provision system 100.
[0022] When the service provider XA updates the terms of use of the service SA, the service provider XA notifies the service user who uses the service SA of the "update of the terms of use" (step S1). For example, the service providing device 2 may send an email to the email address of the service user to notify the service user of the update of the terms of use. Of course, a communication means other than email may be used, for example, the service user may be notified using an application program of the service SA or a social networking service (SNS). Note that the process of step S1 is part of the service of the service SA, and is not a process in which the information providing system 100 is directly involved.
[0023] In the information providing system 100, when a specific service provider updates the terms of use of a specific service, the terms of use management entity detects that the terms of use of this specific service will be updated (step S2). In other words, when the service provider XA updates the terms of use of the service SA, the terms of use management device 1 can detect that the terms of use of the service SA have been updated. Here, the method of detecting the update of the terms of use is not particularly limited, and for example, (1) a notice regarding the update of the terms of use may be sent from the service provider to the terms of use management entity, similar to the service user in step S1, (2) the terms of use management device 1 may periodically patrol a Web page regarding the terms of use of the specific service (for example, the service providing device 2 that provides the specific service) to monitor and detect the presence or absence of an update, or (3) a notice regarding the update of the terms of use may be received from a service user who has recognized the update of the terms of use.
[0024] In the information providing system 100, when the terms of use management business entity detects an update to the terms of use of a predetermined service, it creates judgment information. This judgment information is second judgment information that includes at least the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the predetermined service, and an expert's comment on the difference. It is also possible to create first judgment information that includes the new comment together with this second judgment information.
[0025] First, the process of creating the difference will be described. In the information providing system 100, the difference between the new and old terms of use is created using a difference tool. For example, when the service provider XA updates the terms of use of the service SA, the terms of use management device 1 acquires data of the new and old terms of use of the service SA, and creates the difference between the new and old terms of use of the service SA by using a difference tool. Here, if the data of the new and old terms of use of the service SA is held in the terms of use management device 1, it is acquired from the terms of use management device 1, and if it is not held in the terms of use management device 1, it is acquired from the service providing device 2 managed by the service provider XA. In addition, the difference tool may be an existing difference tool, and any difference tool may be used as long as it is possible to display the new and old terms of use in a comparative format and to highlight the added, changed, and deleted parts (for example, to display underlined or strikethrough, to display in a conspicuous color, to highlight, etc.).
[0026] Next, the process of creating a difference comment will be described. In the information providing system 100, when a difference is created, the terms of use management business entity requests an expert to create a difference comment (step S3). When the expert receives the request to create a difference comment, the expert creates a difference comment based on the created difference, and registers the created difference comment in the information providing system 100 (step S4).
[0027] For example, when the terms of use management device 1 creates the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the service SA, in the process of step S3, the terms of use management device 1 may send an e-mail to a specific expert's e-mail address requesting the expert to create a comment on the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the service SA. In this case, in the process of step S4, the expert who has received the e-mail requesting the expert to create a comment on the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the service SA may log in to the information providing system 100 using the user terminal 3B, and then, while referring to the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the service SA, input a comment on the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the service SA via a difference comment registration screen (not shown), thereby registering the comment on the difference in the information providing system 100.
[0028] In the process of step S3, a communication means other than e-mail may be used, and a notification function on the information providing system 100 may be used to request a specific expert to create a difference comment for the service SA. In addition, in the process of step S4, the expert registers the difference comment in the information providing system 100, but in addition to this, a new comment may be registered in the information providing system 100. Furthermore, the difference comment and the new comment do not have to be registered at the same opportunity, and the new comment may be registered at an opportunity separate from the opportunity for registering the difference comment.
[0029] In the information providing system 100, once the judgment information is created, it becomes possible to provide the judgment information to the user, so the terms of use management business provides the judgment information (step S6) in response to a request from the service user to view the judgment information (step S5). For example, when the terms of use management device 1 creates judgment information for the service SA, if the service user logs in to the information providing system 100 using the user terminal 3A and then selects the service SA on a judgment information providing screen (not shown), the judgment information for the service SA may be displayed on the user terminal 3A.
[0030] The service user who has received the judgment information judges whether or not to agree to the new terms of use of the specified service based on the judgment information (step S7). For example, when the judgment information of the service SA is displayed on the user terminal 3A, the service user can view the second judgment information including the difference between the new terms of use of the service SA and the old terms of use and the difference comment, and can express his / her intention to agree to the new terms of use of the service SA based on the second judgment information. For example, when the service providing device 2 of the service provider XA has sent an e-mail to the service user's e-mail address in step S1 to notify the service user of the update of the terms of use, the service user may access a web page to which a link to the update is attached in the e-mail, and then express his / her intention to agree to the new terms of use on the web page. The process of step S7 is a part of the service of the service SA, and is not a process in which the information providing system 100 is directly involved.
[0031] According to the judgment information provision service provided by the information provision system 100 in this manner, when the terms of use of a specified service are updated, judgment information including the differences between the new and old terms of use of the specified service and comments on the differences is provided to the service user, making it easier for the service user to make a decision when agreeing to the updated terms of use and reducing the burden on the service user when the terms of use are updated.
[0032] Although not shown in Fig. 2, when the usage agreement management device 1 creates judgment information related to a predetermined service, it is preferable to notify the service user who is using the predetermined service that the provision of the judgment information has started. For example, when judgment information for the service SA is created, an email may be sent to the email address of the service user who is using the service SA to notify that the provision of the judgment information has started, or a notification function on the information providing system 100 may be used to notify the service user who is using the service SA that the provision of the judgment information for the service SA has started. By receiving the notification that the provision of the judgment information has started, the service user can know that the judgment information is available for viewing.
[0033] 2, if the service user agrees to new terms of use for a given service in step S7, the service user applies for and registers the service for which the service user agrees to the new terms of use with the terms of use management business. For example, specifically, the service user logs into the information providing system 100 using the user terminal 3A, and then registers information (e.g., the service, version, etc.) related to the service for which the service user agreed to the new terms of use via a service registration screen (not shown) in the information providing system 100 (specifically, the terms of use management device 1). This allows the information providing system 100 to keep track of the services the service user is using even if the terms of use are updated.
[0034] In this manner, in this embodiment, the service user applies for and registers a service for which the service user has agreed to new terms of use with the terms of use management business, so that the information providing system 100 can grasp that the service user has agreed to the new terms of use for the specified service. However, separately from this, the terms of use management business may also be able to grasp that the service user has agreed to the new terms of use for the specified service by receiving a notification from the service provider that the service user has agreed to the new terms of use for the specified service.
[0035] <Functional configuration of each device in the information provision system> Each of the devices constituting the information providing system 100 and shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail below.
[0036] 3 is a functional configuration diagram of the terms of use management device 1. The terms of use management device 1 includes a storage unit 11, which is composed of, for example, a hard disk or the like, and stores data managed by the information providing system 100, a control unit 12, which is composed of, for example, a CPU and a memory, and realizes various functions (update detection unit 111, terms of use acquisition unit 112, difference creation unit 113, comment acceptance unit 114, judgment information provision unit 115) described later in this embodiment by controlling the storage unit 11, transferring various data, performing various calculations, and temporarily storing data, and a communication unit 13, which transmits and receives data to and from the service providing device 2 and the user terminal 3 via the communication network 4.
[0037] The storage unit 11 is configured to include at least a master database (hereinafter referred to as "master DB") 101, a latest version management database DB (hereinafter referred to as "latest version management DB") 102, a terms of use database DB (hereinafter referred to as "terms of use DB") 103, a used service management database (hereinafter referred to as "used service management DB") DB104, a comment database (hereinafter referred to as "comment DB") DB105, and a difference comment database DB (hereinafter referred to as "difference comment DB") 106. Fig. 4(a) shows a schematic diagram of the data structure of the master DB 101, Fig. 4(b) shows a schematic diagram of the data structure of the latest version management DB 102, Fig. 4(c) shows a schematic diagram of the data structure of the terms of use DB 103, Fig. 5(a) shows a schematic diagram of the data structure of the used service management DB 104, Fig. 5(b) shows a schematic diagram of the data structure of the comment DB 105, and Fig. 5(c) shows a schematic diagram of the data structure of the difference comment DB 106.
[0038] More specifically, the master DB 101 includes a service database (hereinafter referred to as "service DB") 101A, a user database (hereinafter referred to as "user DB") 101B, and an expert database (hereinafter referred to as "expert DB") 101C.
[0039] The service DB101A is a database that stores service data d101A, which is master data related to services with terms of use. As shown in Fig. 4(a), the service data d101A is data that associates a service ID that can uniquely identify a service with attribute information of the service (for example, a service name, a name of a company that provides the service, a service description, a classification code assigned to the service, etc.).
[0040] The user DB101B is a database that stores service user data d101B, which is master data related to service users. As shown in Fig. 4(a), the service user data d101B is data that associates a service user ID that can uniquely identify a service user with a password for logging in to the information providing system 100 and attribute information of the service user (for example, the name, address, email address, SNS ID, etc. of the service user).
[0041] The expert DB101B is a database that stores expert data d101C, which is master data related to experts. As shown in Fig. 4(a), the expert data d101C is data that associates an expert ID that can uniquely identify an expert with a password for logging in to the information providing system 100 and attribute information of the expert (for example, name, affiliation, telephone number, address, email address, specialty, etc.).
[0042] The latest version management DB102 is a database that stores latest version management data d102 that manages the latest version (edition) of the terms of use for a service. As shown in FIG. 4(b), the latest version management data d102 is composed of data that associates at least a service ID, a version (latest version), and an update date and time. The update date and time is the update date and time when the terms of use for the service were updated (the date and time when the latest version of the terms of use applies). In the information providing system 100, it is possible to grasp the latest version of the terms of use for each service by checking the latest version management data d102 stored in the latest version management DB102.
[0043] The terms of use DB103 is a database that stores terms of use data d103, which is the details (contents) of the terms of use of the service. As shown in FIG. 4(c), the terms of use data d103 is composed of data that associates at least a service ID, a version, and terms of use (contents). That is, the information providing system 100 cumulatively stores the terms of use (contents) for each version of the service. Therefore, it is possible to view the history of terms of use going back to the past. Here, the file format of the terms of use (contents) is not particularly limited. It may be stored as text data or in another file format.
[0044] The service management DB104 is a database that stores service management data d104 that manages the services used by the service users. As shown in FIG. 5(a), the service management data d104 is data that is configured by associating at least a user ID, a service ID, a version, a usage status flag, and a usage start date and time. The usage status flag is a flag that indicates the usage status of the service user for the corresponding version of the service, and in this embodiment, it is configured with a flag that indicates the usage status such as using (in use) and under consideration (one of the states of not using). For example, when the service user UA agrees to the new terms of use of the service SA, version 2.0, the usage status flag of the service management data d104 of the service user UA, version 2.0 corresponding to the new terms of use of the service SA is set to a flag indicating "in use". In this way, the information providing system 100 can grasp which version of which service the service user is currently using.
[0045] The comment DB105 is a database that stores comment data d105 indicating comments from experts regarding the terms of use of the service. As shown in FIG. 5(b), the comment data d105 is data that is configured by associating at least a service ID, a version, an expert ID, and a comment. The comments in the comment data d105 correspond to the new comment and the first judgment information described above. The comments in the comment data d105 are configured of a digest comment that is a summary, and detailed comments for each of a number of items, as will be described in detail later. In this way, in the information providing system 100, the comments from experts are managed for each service and version.
[0046] The difference comment DB106 is a database that stores difference comment data d106 indicating comments by experts regarding differences in the terms of use of the service. As shown in FIG. 5(c), the difference comment data d106 is data that is configured by associating at least a service ID, a version (new version), a version (old version), an expert ID, and a difference comment. The difference comment in the comment data d106 is data that constitutes second judgment information. In this way, in the information providing system 100, the difference comments by experts are managed for each service and adjacent old and new versions.
[0047] Returning to Figure 3, the control unit 12 can be classified into its main functions as an update detection unit (update detection function) 111, a terms of use acquisition unit (terms of use acquisition function) 112, a difference creation unit (difference creation function) 113, a comment acceptance unit (comment acceptance function) 114, and a judgment information provision unit (judgment information provision function) 115.
[0048] The update detection unit 111 has a function of detecting updates to the terms of use of the service. As described in FIG. 2, the method of detecting updates to the terms of use may be a method (push) in which the service providing device 2 transmits an update notification to the terms of use management device 1, or a method (pull) in which the terms of use management device 1 inquires of the service providing device 2 and obtains the information.
[0049] The terms of use acquisition unit 112 has a function of acquiring the old and new terms of use of the service whose terms of use have been updated, triggered by the detection of an update of the terms of use by the update detection unit 111. When the terms of use management device 1 holds the target terms of use in the terms of use DB 103, the new and old terms of use are acquired from the terms of use DB 103, and when the target terms of use are not held, the new and old terms of use are acquired from an external source (for example, the service providing device 2 which provides the service whose terms of use have been updated). The terms of use acquisition unit 112 generally acquires the old terms of use from the terms of use DB 103 and the new terms of use from the service providing device 2, but is not limited to this. Note that the method of acquiring the new terms of use from the service providing device 2 is generally a method in which the terms of use management device 1 inquires of the service providing device 2 and acquires them (pull), but a method in which the service providing device 2 transmits the new terms of use to the terms of use management device 1 together with an update notification regarding the terms of use (push) may also be used.
[0050] The difference creating unit 113 has a function of creating a difference based on the acquired new and old terms of use after the terms of use acquisition unit 112 acquires the new and old terms of use. In this embodiment, the difference is not stored in the database, so it is preferable to create it when an expert registers a difference comment or when providing judgment information to a service user, but it is also possible to provide a separate database (hereinafter referred to as a difference DB) for storing the difference in the storage unit 11, create the difference after the terms of use acquisition unit 112 acquires the new and old terms of use, and register the created difference in the difference DB. In this case, the process when the judgment information providing unit 115, which will be described later, provides judgment information can be made simpler and faster.
[0051] The comment acceptance unit 114 is a function for accepting comments from experts. More specifically, the comment acceptance unit 114 includes a first comment acceptance unit 116 for accepting comments (new comments) on terms of use for each service and version, and a second comment acceptance unit 117 for accepting comments (difference comments) on differences between the old and new terms of use for each service. The comments accepted by the first comment acceptance unit 116 are registered in the comment DB 105 as comment data d105, and the comments accepted by the second comment acceptance unit 117 are registered in the difference comment DB 106 as difference comment data d106. Here, the comment data d105 is created, for example, by an expert logging in to the information providing system 100 using the user terminal 3B, selecting a service and a version via a comment registration screen (not shown), and then inputting a comment. In contrast, the comment data d106 is created, for example, by an expert logging in to the information provision system 100 using a user terminal 3B, selecting a service and old and new versions via a difference comment registration screen (not shown), and then inputting a difference comment.
[0052] The judgment information providing unit 115 has a function of providing judgment information to the service user when the terms of use are updated. More specifically, the judgment information providing unit 115 includes a first judgment information providing unit 118 that provides first judgment information including a new comment accepted by a first comment accepting unit 116, and a second judgment information providing unit 119 that provides second judgment information including a difference between the old and new terms of use and a difference comment accepted by a second comment accepting unit 117.
[0053] 6 and 7 are examples of screens displayed on the user terminal 3A, and are diagrams showing the function of the first judgment information providing unit 118. The first judgment information provided by the first judgment information providing unit 118 is made up of comments from experts, and these comments are made up of a general digest comment and detailed comments for each item.
[0054] Fig. 6 shows the screen d1 that appears when the service user UA selects "Services in Use" after logging in to the information providing system 100. In other words, the screen d1 is a service list screen that shows the services that the service user UA is using. In the example shown in Fig. 6, there are eight "Services in Use," six of which are displayed on the screen d1. Note that the "Services in Use" refers to the usage status flag in the service usage management data d104 of the service user UA, and acquires and displays the services that are in use.
[0055] Screen d1 displays the following items for each service being used: Terms of Use & Digest, Usage Fee, and Start Date of Use. When Terms of Use 120 of a specific service is pressed (selected) on screen d1, the screen moves to a screen (not shown) that displays the terms of use of that service, and when Digest 121 is pressed (selected), the screen moves to comment display screen d2 that displays digest comments for that service.
[0056] The comment display screen of this embodiment includes a comment display screen d2 that is displayed based on pressing the digest 121, and comment display screens d3 to d7 that display detailed comments for each of a plurality of items. The comment display screens d2 to d7 can be transitioned by a predetermined operation. FIG. 7 shows the comment display screens d2 to d7. The comment display screen d2 is a screen that displays a digest of the comments, and the service user can grasp the important parts of the expert's comments simply by viewing the comment display screen d2. In addition, the plurality of items are divided into five categories, for example, disclaimer, rights, privacy, prohibited items, responsibility, and others, in the example shown in FIG. 7, and the service user can grasp detailed advice for each item by viewing the comment display screens d3 to d7 for each item.
[0057] In this way, the first judgment information providing unit 118 of this embodiment can provide new comments to service users by dividing them into digest comments and detailed comments for each item for each version of the service, thereby making it possible to provide detailed judgment information according to the level of demand of the service users.
[0058] 8 and 9 are examples of screens displayed on the user terminal 3A, and are diagrams showing the function of the second judgment information providing unit 119. The second judgment information provided by the second judgment information providing unit 119 is composed of the difference between the new and old terms of use, and a comment on the difference.
[0059] FIG. 8 shows a screen d11 when the service user UA selects "contract renewal" after logging in to the information providing system. "Contract renewal" in FIG. 8 refers to a service that the service user UA uses and whose terms of use have been updated recently (for example, a service whose terms of use have been updated within the past month, etc.) and for which the service user UA has not yet agreed to the new terms of use. In other words, the screen d11 is a service list screen for services for which the service user UA is to decide whether or not to agree to the new terms of use. In the example shown in FIG. 8, three services are displayed as "contract renewal". The services that are the subject of "contract renewal" are acquired and displayed by referring to the latest version management data d102 and the service user UA's usage service management data d104.
[0060] On the screen d11, for each service that is the subject of "contract renewal", the items of updated terms, previous terms, differences and explanations are displayed. When "updated terms" (e.g., the part "established on xx / xx / yy") 123 is pressed (selected), the screen moves to a screen (not shown) that displays the new terms of use for the service, and when "previous terms" (e.g., the part "established on xx / xx / yy") 124 is pressed (selected), the screen moves to a screen (not shown) that displays the old terms of use for the service. When "differences and explanations" (e.g., the part "check differences") 125 is pressed (selected), the screen moves to a difference comment display screen d12 that displays the differences between the old and new terms of use for the service and difference comments.
[0061] FIG. 9 shows the difference comment display screen d12. In the difference comment display screen d12, the difference comment 126 by an expert and the difference 127 between the old and new terms of use are displayed on one screen at the same time. Unlike the comments displayed on the comment display screens d2 to d7, the difference comment 126 is not displayed separately as a digest or detailed comments for each item, but is a difference comment that takes into consideration each item (e.g., disclaimer, rights, privacy, prohibited matters, responsibility, etc.) and includes advice on whether the difference is advantageous to the service user (whether the new terms of use is an update that is more advantageous to the service user than the old terms of use). On the other hand, the difference 127 is displayed in a form of comparison between the new terms of use and the old terms of use, and the added, changed, and deleted parts are highlighted (e.g., underlined or struck through, displayed in a conspicuous color, highlighted, etc.). As a result, the service user can visually clearly grasp the difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use on one screen and then view an explanation of the difference, making it easy to understand the difference and to easily decide whether to agree or disagree with the new terms of use.
[0062] In this way, the second judgment information providing unit 119 of this embodiment can provide service users with expert comments on the differences while indicating the differences between the old and new terms of use when updating the terms of use, making it easier for them to understand the differences between the old and new terms of use and facilitating the decision to agree to the new terms of use.
[0063] The terms of use management device 1 has the functions of an application server, a database server, and a Web (World Wide Web) server as described above, and is capable of transmitting and receiving information via the Web with the user terminals 3A and 3B. The terms of use management device 1 may be configured as a system in which multiple devices are connected to a network, in addition to being physically a single device, and when configured as multiple devices, they may all be installed in the same location, or may be installed in multiple locations.
[0064] The program that realizes the functions of the terms of use management device 1 according to this embodiment is stored in a main storage device such as the memory described above or an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk. This program can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a BD (Blu-ray Disc (registered trademark)), or can be distributed via a communication network.
[0065] 10(a) is a schematic functional configuration diagram of the service providing device 2. The service providing device 2 includes a storage unit 21, which is composed of, for example, a hard disk or the like, and stores data necessary for providing a service and terms of use 201 of the service, a control unit 22, which is composed of, for example, a CPU, a memory, or the like, and realizes a service providing function 202 by controlling the storage unit 21, transferring various data, performing various calculations, temporarily storing data, and the like, and a communication unit 23, which transmits and receives data to and from the terms of use management device 1 and the user terminal 3 via the communication network 4.
[0066] 10(b) is a functional configuration diagram of the user terminal 3. The user terminal 3 is assumed to be an information terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer (PC), and specifically includes a storage unit 31, a UI (User Interface) unit 32, a control unit 33, and a communication unit 34.
[0067] The storage unit 31 is composed of, for example, a hard disk, a memory, etc., and stores data and programs used for control by the control unit 33. Browser software is installed in the storage unit 31 of this embodiment.
[0068] The UI unit 32 serves as both the input unit and the output unit of the user terminal 3, accepting input operations from the user and outputting the results processed by the control unit 33 in response to the input operations. In the case of a PC, it is composed of a mouse, keyboard, display, speaker, camera, etc., while in the case of a smartphone, it is composed of a touch panel that also serves as a display screen, a microphone, speaker, camera, etc.
[0069] The control unit 33 is composed of, for example, a CPU and memory, and executes processing on the user terminal 3 side of the information provision comment providing system 100 by controlling the memory unit 31, transferring various data, performing various calculations, temporarily storing data, etc.
[0070] The communication unit 34 is configured to transmit and receive data to and from the terms of use management device 1 via the communication network 4 when the control unit 33 executes processing on the user terminal 3 side of the information provision comment providing system 100. In addition, when receiving a service from the service providing device 2, the communication unit 34 is configured to transmit and receive data to and from the service providing device 2 via the communication network 4.
[0071] <Operation of the information provision system> Next, the operation of the information providing system 100 according to this embodiment when the terms of use are updated will be described with reference to Fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of terms of use update processing executed by the terms of use management device 1. The terms of use update processing is executed when the terms of use management device 1 detects an update to the terms of use of a predetermined service.
[0072] First, when the terms of use management device 1 detects an update to the terms of use of a predetermined service by a predetermined method (step S10), it acquires the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the predetermined service (steps S20, S30). Note that, in step S10, when the terms of use management device 1 detects an update to the terms of use of the predetermined service, it updates the version and update date and time of the latest version management data d102 of the predetermined service in the latest version management DB 102. Also, in step S20, if the terms of use of the new terms of use of the predetermined service do not exist in the terms of use DB 103, the terms of use management device 1 acquires the new terms of use from the service providing device 2, creates terms of use data d103 of the new terms of use of the predetermined service based on the acquired new terms of use, and registers it in the terms of use DB 103.
[0073] Next, the terms of use management device 1 creates a difference between the old and new terms of use based on the acquired new and old terms of use of the specified service (step S40), accepts and registers new comments on the new terms of use of the specified service (step S50), accepts and registers difference comments for the specified service (step S50), and creates judgment information. In detail, in step S40, the terms of use management device 1 creates comment data d105 corresponding to the new terms of use version of the specified service based on the new comments created by the expert and registers it in the comment DB 105, and in step S50, creates difference comment data d106 corresponding to the old and new versions of the terms of use of the specified service based on the difference comments created by the expert and registers it in the difference comment DB 106.
[0074] Finally, the terms of use management device 1 provides the created judgment information to the user (step S70). In detail, when providing the first judgment information, a new comment on the predetermined service is provided by referring to the comment DB 105 (see FIG. 7), and when providing the second judgment information, a difference comment on the predetermined service is provided together with the difference by referring to the difference comment DB 106 (see FIG. 9).
[0075] Note that the process order from step S10 to step S70 of the terms of use update process described in Fig. 11 is one example, and the terms of use update process is not necessarily limited to the process order shown in Fig. 11. To be precise, the process order within each general framework is not limited as long as it follows the general process order shown in Fig. 11, that is, first, update detection in step S100, then acquisition of terms of use in step S200, then creation of judgment information in step S300, and finally, provision of judgment information in step S400. For example, in the acquisition of terms of use in step S200, the order of acquisition of old and new terms of use may be reversed, and in the creation of judgment information in step S300, the order of difference creation, new comment registration, and difference comment registration is not particularly limited.
[0076] 11, if the service user agrees to the new terms of use for the specified service after step S70, the information related to the service agreed to the new terms of use (for example, the service, version, etc.) is applied for and registered in the information providing system 100, so the terms of use management device 1 creates used service management data d104 corresponding to the new terms of use for the specified service (the usage status flag is "in use") and registers it in the used service management DB 104. If the terms are "under consideration", the application is registered in the information providing system 100, so the terms of use management device 1 creates used service management data d104 corresponding to the new terms of use for the specified service (the usage status flag is "under consideration") and registers it in the used service management DB 104.
[0077] As described above, according to the information providing system 100 of the present embodiment, when the terms of use of a service used by a service user are updated, the difference between the old and new terms of use and the difference comment by an expert are provided as judgment information, so that it is easy to make a judgment when agreeing to the update of the terms of use, and the burden on the service user can be reduced. Conventionally, the terms of use are long and filled with difficult legal terms, so that agreeing to the terms of use has become a mere formality. In other words, even if the terms of use contain unfavorable wording, the service user is in a disadvantageous situation where the terms are too long and does not actually read them, that is, the service user is in a disadvantageous situation. And it is a social problem that the situation where people agree to the terms of use without receiving advice on the interpretation of the terms of use is taken for granted. The expert comment providing system disclosed in Patent No. 6946598 by the present inventor solves such a problem. However, these days, one service user often uses many services, and it is common for terms of use to be updated. Under such circumstances, it is useful to provide an expert's comment on the new terms of use, but it is easier for the service user to understand the terms of use and further reduce the burden if a difference comment is provided while showing the difference between the old and new terms of use. Therefore, the information providing system 100 of this embodiment provides the differences between the old and new terms of use and comments on the differences as judgment information when the terms of use are updated, making it easy for service users to agree or disagree to the new terms of use even when the terms of use are updated.
[0078] <Modification> Note that, like the new comment, the difference comment may be created separately into a digest comment and a detailed comment for each item, and the digest comment may be displayed as the difference comment 126 on the screen d12 shown in Fig. 9. In this case, when a predetermined operation is performed on the screen d12, the screen may transition to a screen on which a detailed comment for each item is displayed. The difference comment can be used as detailed judgment information according to the degree of demand of the service user.
[0079] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made to the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the gist of the present invention, and such modifications and changes are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the actions and effects described in the embodiments of the invention are merely a list of the most preferable actions and effects resulting from the present invention, and the actions and effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]
[0080] 1 Terms of use management device 2 Service provision equipment 3,3A,3B User terminal 4. Communication Network 11,21,31 Storage section 12, 22, 33 Control section 13, 23, 34 Communications Department 100 Information system regarding terms of use 101 Master DB 102 Latest Version Management DB 103 Terms of Use DB 104 Service Usage DB 105 Comments DB 106 Difference Comment DB 111 Update detection unit 112 Terms of Use Acquisition Department 113 Difference Creation Section 114 Comment Reception Section 115 Judgment Information Provision Department 116 First Comment Reception Section 117 Second Comment Reception Section 118 First Judgment Information Section 119 Second Judgment Information Section
Claims
1. An information providing device for providing a service user with judgment information regarding consent to terms of use of a service, an update detection unit that detects updates to the terms of use of a predetermined service; a terms of use acquisition unit that acquires the new and old versions of the terms of use of the specified service detected by the update detection unit (hereinafter, the new version of the terms of use is referred to as the "new terms of use" and the old version of the terms of use is referred to as the "old terms of use"); a difference creation unit that creates a difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use acquired by the terms of use acquisition unit; a difference comment receiving unit that receives a comment on the difference created by the difference creating unit (hereinafter referred to as a "difference comment"); a judgment information providing unit that creates judgment information including the difference created by the difference creating unit and the difference comment accepted by the difference comment accepting unit, and provides the created judgment information to a service user who is using the predetermined service for which an update has been detected by the update detecting unit; An information providing device comprising:
2. The information providing device is configured to be capable of communicating with a user terminal (hereinafter referred to as a "first user terminal") used by a service user via a communication network, the determination information providing unit, based on an instruction from the first user terminal of a service user who is using the predetermined service for which the update detection unit has detected an update, displays the determination information on a screen of the first user terminal in a manner that allows both the difference and the difference comment to be visually recognized.
2. The information providing device according to claim 1.
3. the information providing device is configured to be able to communicate with a service providing device that provides a service to a service user via a communication network; a terms of use data storage unit that stores terms of use data that associates a service, a version of the service, and terms of use; The update detection unit detects an update to terms of use of the predetermined service based on communication with the service providing device; the terms of use acquisition unit acquires the new terms of use and the old terms of use of the predetermined service, whose update has been detected by the update detection unit, from the terms of use data storage unit or the service providing device based on the respective versions; if the terms of use data corresponding to the terms of use acquired from the service providing device does not exist in the terms of use data storage unit, storing the acquired terms of use as the terms of use data in the terms of use data storage unit.
3. The information providing device according to claim 2.
4. The information providing device is capable of communicating with a user terminal used by an expert (hereinafter referred to as a "second user terminal") via a communication network; a difference comment data storage unit that stores difference comment data in which a service, a new version of the service, an old version of the service, and difference comments are associated with each other; the difference comment receiving unit receives the difference comment input from the second user terminal, and stores the received difference comment in the difference comment data storage unit as the difference comment data; 4. The information providing device according to claim 3.
5. An information providing method for providing a service user with judgment information regarding consent to terms of use of a service, comprising: An update detection step of detecting an update to the terms of use of a predetermined service; a terms of use acquisition step of acquiring the new and old versions of the terms of use of the predetermined service detected in the update detection step (hereinafter, the new version of the terms of use is referred to as the "new terms of use" and the old version of the terms of use is referred to as the "old terms of use"); a difference creation step of creating a difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use acquired in the terms of use acquisition step; a difference comment receiving step of receiving a comment on the difference created in the difference creating step (hereinafter referred to as a "difference comment"); a judgment information providing step of creating judgment information including the difference created in the difference creating step and the difference comment accepted in the difference comment accepting step, and providing the created judgment information to a service user who is using the predetermined service for which an update has been detected in the update detecting step; An information providing method comprising:
6. An information providing program for providing a service user with judgment information regarding consent to terms of use of a service, Computer, an update detection unit that detects updates to the terms of use of a predetermined service; a terms of use acquisition unit that acquires the new and old versions of the terms of use of the specified service detected by the update detection unit (hereinafter, the new version of the terms of use is referred to as the "new terms of use" and the old version of the terms of use is referred to as the "old terms of use"); a difference creation unit that creates a difference between the new terms of use and the old terms of use acquired by the terms of use acquisition unit; a difference comment receiving unit that receives a comment on the difference created by the difference creating unit (hereinafter referred to as a "difference comment"); a judgment information providing unit that creates judgment information including the difference created by the difference creating unit and the difference comment accepted by the difference comment accepting unit, and provides the created judgment information to a service user who is using the predetermined service for which an update has been detected by the update detecting unit; An information providing program characterized by causing the program to function as: