Information processing apparatus, method for controlling information processing apparatus, electronic apparatus, method for controlling electronic apparatus, and program

Abstract

To reflect the status of agreement received from a user, in an electronic apparatus more appropriately.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus includes: acceptance means configured to accept a user operation indicating whether to agree to first permissions related to information transmission from an electronic apparatus, and a user operation indicating whether to permit to second permissions different from the first permissions, related to information transmission from the electronic apparatus; and control means configured to, when receiving an operation indicating agreement about the first permissions, perform control to transmit first information corresponding to the agreement, to the electronic apparatus, regardless of whether an operation indicating whether to agree to the second permissions has been received, and configured to, when receiving an operation indicating disagreement about the first permissions, perform control to transmit second information corresponding to the disagreement, to the electronic apparatus, regardless of whether the operation indicating whether to agree to the second permissions has been received.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method for the information processing apparatus, an electronic device, a control method for the electronic device, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a system that transmits status information of an electronic device to a server with the user's consent and provides a service adapted to the state of the electronic device by analyzing the status information on the server side has been widely used.

[0003] According to Patent Document 1, a system is described in which consent for permission of information transmission is obtained from a user of a multifunction device, and the status information is transmitted to a server and used for a service.

[0004] Also, according to Patent Document 2, a system is described in which consent for permission of information transmission is obtained again from a user due to the influence of an additional function during software update.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] In recent years, the handling of personal information has become stricter, and there is a need to respond to receiving consent for multiple license statements for different purposes. That is, the user needs to indicate consent for each of the service license for the services to be enjoyed and the analysis license for collecting information for vendor development purposes. By version-managing these license statements, it is necessary to be able to follow the implementation of amendments to the Personal Information Protection Law after the sale of electronic devices. However, even if external devices (for example, mobile terminals such as smartphones) support purpose-specific licenses, there may be cases where previously sold electronic devices do not support purpose-specific licenses. Even in such cases, it is necessary to comply with the legally required purpose-specific licenses.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a mechanism for more suitably reflecting the consent status received from the user in an electronic device.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a reception unit that receives a user operation indicating whether to consent to a first license content regarding information transmission from an electronic device, and a second license content different from the first license content regarding information transmission from the electronic device. A reception unit that receives a user operation indicating whether to consent, and when an operation indicating consent to the first license content is received, regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second license content is received, controls to transmit first information corresponding to the consent to the electronic device, and when an operation indicating non-consent to the first license content is received, regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second license content is received, controls to transmit second information corresponding to the non-consent to the electronic device. It is characterized by having a control means.

Effects of the Invention

[0009] According to the present disclosure, the consent status received from the user can be more suitably reflected in the electronic device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be exemplarily described with reference to the drawings. However, the components described in this embodiment show a form as an example of the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited only to them.

[0012] <Embodiment 1> Hereinafter, an embodiment using an image processing apparatus as an electronic device according to the present disclosure will be described. In this embodiment, a permission version is assigned to the permission statement in order to manage the update of the permission statement. The latest version includes the conventional version, and when asking the user for consent to the permission, the permission statement of the latest version is used.

[0013] In this embodiment, the permission for information collection is divided into a service permission and an analysis permission. The service permission is a permission for transmitting information necessary for providing a service. The analysis permission is a permission for the service provider to transmit information that is not essential for service provision for user analysis. Therefore, the user is asked for consent separately for the service permission and the analysis permission.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of an information processing system. The information processing system includes a server system for providing services (a service providing server group 1, a license statement information management server 2 for managing the latest version information of license statements, and a license statement update information management server 3 for managing the update information of license statements). The information processing system also includes an image processing apparatus 100, a Web server 4, and a communication network 300. The service providing server group 1 is a server for providing a cloud service to the image processing apparatus 100. The cloud services include services such as printing image data on the cloud with the image processing apparatus 100 and storing the image data scanned by the image processing apparatus 100 on the cloud.

[0015] The license statement information management server 2 manages the latest license version of the license statement. When there is a change in the license statement that requires user consent due to function addition or law amendment, etc., the latest license version is updated.

[0016] The license statement update information management server 3 manages the sendable license versions as the license versions required for information transmission separately for each country. The license statement update information management server 3 also determines the installation country of the image processing apparatus 100 and returns the sendable license versions of the service license and the analysis license corresponding to that country. When there is a change in the license statement that requires user consent due to function addition or law amendment, etc., the sendable license version information in the server is updated.

[0017] The Web server 4 records the latest license statements for each country. In FIG. 1, the license statement information management server 2 and the license statement update information management server 3 are described separately as examples of the embodiments, but they may be combined into one.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the image processing apparatus 100 in the present embodiment. The image processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101, a program memory 102, a data memory 103, a communication control unit 104, an input interface 105, an output interface 106, a display unit 107, a print engine 108, a nonvolatile memory 109, and a RAM 110. The CPU 101 is a system control unit that controls the entire image processing apparatus 100. The program memory 102 stores control programs executed by the CPU 101, embedded operating system programs, and the like.

[0019] The data memory 103 stores program control variables and the like, and various work buffer areas are provided for use during the processing of the print engine 108. The communication control unit 104 controls data transfer with the outside via the communication line 130. The input interface 105 is an interface for receiving data input and operation instructions from the user, and is composed of a physical keyboard, buttons, a touch panel, and the like. Note that the output interface 106 described later and the input interface 105 may have the same configuration, and the output on the screen and the reception of operations from the user may be performed with the same configuration. The output interface 106 is an interface that controls the display unit 107 to display data and notify the state of the image processing apparatus 100.

[0020] The display unit 107 is composed of an LED (light emitting diode), an LCD (liquid crystal display), or the like, and displays data and notifies the state of the image processing apparatus 100. Note that a soft keyboard including keys such as a numerical input key, a mode setting key, an enter key, a cancel key, and a power key may be installed on the display unit 107 to receive input from the user via the display unit 107.

[0021] The print engine 108 forms an image on a recording medium such as paper using a recording material such as ink based on the information stored in the data memory 103 and the received print job, and outputs the print result. The non-volatile memory 109 is composed of devices such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) and a flash memory. The non-volatile memory 109 is mainly used for the purpose of storing data such as the set values of the image processing apparatus 100 that need to be retained even when the power supply of the image processing apparatus 100 is not supplied.

[0022] The RAM 110 is composed of a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) etc. that requires a backup power supply. The RAM 110 is also used as the main memory and work memory of the CPU 101, and stores a reception buffer for temporarily storing the print information received from a PC etc. and various other information. The above components 101 to 106, 108 to 110 are interconnected via a CPU bus 120 managed by the CPU 101.

[0023] The image processing apparatus 100 can communicate with each server and the mobile terminal 200 shown in FIG. 1 via the communication network 300. The image processing apparatus 100 communicates with each server, acquires a license statement and a license version associated with the license statement etc., and retains them in the non-volatile memory 109.

[0024] FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 200 in the present embodiment. The mobile terminal 200 is an information processing apparatus, and refers to, for example, a smartphone. The mobile terminal 200 has a CPU 201, a program memory 202, a data memory 203, a communication control unit 204, an input interface 205, an output interface 206, a display unit 207, a non-volatile memory 209, and a RAM 210.

[0025] The CPU 201 is a system control unit that controls the entire mobile terminal 200. The program memory 202 stores control programs executed by the CPU 201, built-in operating system programs, and the like. The data memory 203 stores program control variables and the like, and various work buffer areas are provided. The communication control unit 204 controls data transfer with the outside via the communication line 230.

[0026] The input interface 205 is an interface for receiving data input and operation instructions from the user, and is composed of a physical keyboard, buttons, a touch panel, and the like. Note that the output interface 206 described later and the input interface 205 may have the same configuration, and the screen output and the reception of operations from the user may be performed with the same configuration. The output interface 206 is an interface that controls the display unit 207 to display data and notify the state of the mobile terminal 200.

[0027] The display unit 207 is composed of an LED (light emitting diode), an LCD (liquid crystal display), etc., and displays data and notifies the state of the mobile terminal 200. Note that a soft keyboard having keys such as a numeric input key, a mode setting key, a decision key, a cancel key, or a power key may be installed on the display unit 207 to receive input from the user via the display unit 207.

[0028] The non-volatile memory 209 is composed of devices such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) and a flash memory. The non-volatile memory 209 is mainly used for the purpose of storing data such as setting values of the mobile terminal 200 that need to be retained even when the power supply of the mobile terminal 200 is not supplied.

[0029] The RAM 210 is composed of a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) or the like that requires a backup power supply. The RAM 210 is also used as the main memory and the work memory of the CPU 201, and stores information to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 200 once, such as a transmission buffer, and various types of information. The above components are interconnected via a CPU bus 220 managed by the CPU 201.

[0030] It is assumed that the mobile terminal 200 can communicate with each server and the image processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 via a communication network 300. The mobile terminal 200 communicates with each server, acquires a permission statement and a permission version associated with the permission statement, and stores them in the non-volatile memory 209.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen to be displayed on the display unit 107 of the image processing apparatus 100. FIG. 3(a) is a display example of an initial screen (home screen) first displayed after the image processing apparatus 100 is activated. Selection buttons 301 to 303 corresponding to functions executable by the image processing apparatus 105, such as copy, scan, or print, are displayed. FIG. 3(b) shows a print screen that transitions when the "Print" button 303 in FIG. 3(a) is selected. By selecting "Print from Cloud" 312 on the print screen, it becomes possible to select a cloud service. On the print screen shown in FIG. 3(b), "Print from Memory Card" 311, "Print from Cloud" 312, "Print of Pattern Paper" 313, and "Print of Standard Form" 314 can be selected. When the user agrees to the service permission of the image processing apparatus 100, registration of the cloud service becomes possible.

[0032] Figure 3(c) is a list of registered cloud services that transitions by selecting "Print from Cloud" 312 on the print screen of Figure 3(b) after cloud service registration, and is a display screen for selecting a registered cloud service. In Figure 3(c), options 321 to 324 are displayed. When the user has not agreed to the service permission of the image processing apparatus 100, when "Print from Cloud" is selected in Figure 3(b), a permission confirmation screen (not shown) in the image processing apparatus 100 is displayed, and an attempt is made to obtain consent from the user regarding service permission.

[0033] Figure 4 is a flowchart of the mobile terminal 200 in the present embodiment. The processing flow until consent information indicating consent or non-consent of the user of the mobile terminal 200 to the permission is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100 is explained.

[0034] Each process in this flowchart is realized by the CPU 201 expanding and executing a program stored in the program memory 202 in the RAM 210. The program stored in the program memory 202 is, for example, print application software (hereinafter simply referred to as an app) for using the image processing apparatus 100. Also, the symbol "S" in the following explanations of each process means a step in the flowchart, and the same applies in the following embodiments.

[0035] In S401, when the CPU 201 has transitioned to a screen for requesting consent to the permission by a user operation or the like in the mobile terminal 200, the CPU 201 displays a permission consent screen on the display unit 207.

[0036] FIG. 5 is an example of a permission consent screen. On the permission consent screen, permission statements are displayed to the user. The permission statements in this embodiment are three in number, namely the above-mentioned "service permission", "analysis permission", and "permission to provide guidance information" in addition to these. Check boxes are arranged to indicate consent to each permission statement. The "permission to provide guidance information" is a permission to periodically provide guidance information to the user on the mobile terminal 200, and is a permission not required by the image processing apparatus 100.

[0037] The upper check box 501 is an operation item that accepts an operation of consent to the permission statement of the service permission. When the check box 501 is checked and the OK button 505 is touched, consent is given to the service permission. The middle check box 502 is an operation item that accepts an operation of consent to the permission statement of the analysis permission. When the check box 502 is checked and the OK button 505 is touched, consent is given to the analysis permission. The middle check box 503 is an operation item that accepts an operation of consent to the permission statement of the permission to provide guidance information. The permission to provide guidance information is a permission to send push notifications to the mobile terminal 200 (smartphone) on which the application is installed. Therefore, it is a permission that has nothing to do with the printer main body (image processing apparatus 100), and the presence or absence of a check in the check box 503 is not reflected in the printer main body. The all check 504 is an operation item that accepts an instruction to check all of the above three check boxes.

[0038] In S402, the CPU 201 receives an input regarding consent from the user on the consent screen shown in FIG. 5. Here, "service consent" and "analysis consent" are consent information necessary for the image processing apparatus 100, and in the processing flow described later, information regarding whether consent operations related to these have been received is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. "Consent to provide guidance information" is consent for periodically providing guidance information to the user, and since it is not required by the image processing apparatus 100, information regarding whether a consent operation related to this has been received is not transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100.

[0039] In S403, when the user selects the OK button 505 in FIG. 5, the CPU 201 holds (records) the consent information for each purpose-specific consent in the non-volatile memory 209. FIG. 6(a) shows an image of the holding of information indicating the consent status of purpose-specific consents held in the mobile terminal 200 by the processing of S403. The example in FIG. 6(a) is an example in which it is recorded that "consent" is given for "service consent", "non-consent" is given for "analysis consent", and the consent version for which a consent operation has been received is "2". Thus, the consent status of purpose-specific consents includes the consent status for a plurality of types of consent statements for "service consent" and "analysis consent". In S404, the CPU 201 communicates with the image processing apparatus 100 using the communication control unit 204 and acquires the capability information of the image processing apparatus 100. The capability information is information for transmitting the functions (capabilities) of the image processing apparatus 100 to an external terminal that communicates with the image processing apparatus 100. The capability information in the present embodiment is assumed to include "presence or absence of purpose-specific consent support" and "presence or absence of subscription service support".

[0040] When there is purpose-specific permission support, it indicates that the image processing apparatus 100 has the ability to record the consent status of multiple types of permission content, including the consent status of service permission and the consent status of analysis permission. When there is no purpose-specific permission support, it indicates that it does not have the ability to record the consent status of multiple types of permission content and can only record the consent status of one type of permission content. That is, when there is no purpose-specific permission support, the image processing apparatus 100 cannot record the consent status of two types of permissions, namely, the consent status of service permission and the consent status of analysis permission. Note that when information indicating the presence of purpose-specific permission support cannot be obtained from the capability information, or when information indicating the absence of purpose-specific permission support is obtained, it is treated as having no purpose-specific permission support.

[0041] Also, when there is subscription service support, it indicates that the image processing apparatus 100 has the ability to use the subscription service described later. It does not matter whether the subscription service is actually contracted and in use. That is, even if there is subscription service support, it is not possible to determine from this information whether the subscription service is actually contracted and in use or not contracted and not in use. When there is no subscription service support, it indicates that the image processing apparatus 100 does not have the ability to use the subscription service described later. When there is no subscription service support, it is clear that the subscription service using this printer (image processing apparatus 100) has not been contracted or used. Note that when information indicating the presence of subscription service support cannot be obtained from the capability information, or when information indicating the absence of subscription service support is obtained, it is treated as having no subscription service support (not supported).

[0042] In S405, the CPU 201 determines whether a predetermined condition is satisfied. Specifically, based on the capability information obtained from the image processing apparatus 100, it determines whether it has per-purpose permission support. If it is determined that it has per-purpose permission support (satisfies the predetermined condition), the process proceeds to S406. On the other hand, if it is determined that the image processing apparatus 100 does not have per-purpose permission support (is determined to have no per-purpose permission support), the process proceeds to S407. The case of determining that there is no per-purpose permission support means that information indicating the presence of per-purpose permission support cannot be obtained from the capability information, or information indicating the absence of per-purpose permission support is obtained.

[0043] In S406, the CPU 201 communicates with the image processing apparatus 100 using the communication control unit 204, and transmits the consent information of the per-purpose permission held in S403 to the image processing apparatus 100. Since the image processing apparatus 100 supports per-purpose permission, it can understand the received per-purpose permission. The consent information of the per-purpose permission to be transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100 shall include the consent information of the service permission and the analysis permission, and the permission version. Regarding the consent information of the permission for guiding the user described in S402, although the image processing apparatus 100 does not need it, it may be transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. In S406, the consent status of the service permission (information indicating "consent" in the example of FIG. 6(a)), the consent status of the analysis permission (information indicating "non-consent" in the example of FIG. 6(a)), and the permission version (information indicating "2" in the example of FIG. 6(a)) are transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. In this case, information indicating the consent status of "transmission permission" as the type of permission is not transmitted. In other words, neither information indicating consent to the transmission permission nor information indicating non-consent to the transmission permission is transmitted. That is, information of a different type from the information transmitted in S411 described later is transmitted. After finishing the process of S406, the CPU 201 ends the process of this flowchart.

[0044] When the image processing apparatus 100 does not support per-purpose permission, the mobile terminal 200 performs a process of converting the consent status into a transmission permission. Specifically, by the process after S407, the consent status of per-purpose permission (that is, the consent status of multiple types of permissions) as shown in Fig. 6(a) is converted into a transmission permission, which is the consent status of one type of permission as shown in Fig. 6(b). Then, the consent status of the transmission permission is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. Note that the version information included in the consent status of the per-purpose permission is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100 without being converted. In the image processing apparatus 100, the received consent status of the transmission permission and the version information are stored.

[0045] In S407, the CPU 201 determines whether the image processing apparatus 100 supports "subscription service" among the capability information obtained from the image processing apparatus 100. If the image processing apparatus 100 supports the subscription service, the process proceeds to S408. If the image processing apparatus 100 does not support the subscription service, the process proceeds to S409.

[0046] A subscription service is a service that enables printing up to a maximum number of copies at a fixed monthly fee (for a specified period). The cost of consumables (ink, toner, etc.) is included in the monthly fixed usage fee for the subscription service, and no additional cost for consumables will be incurred for printing up to the maximum number of copies. That is, if the consumables run out before reaching the maximum number of copies, the consumables can be reordered free of charge. When using the subscription service, it is essential to send the number of copies printed to the server that provides the subscription service. The transmission of information indicating the number of copies printed corresponds to the information transmitted when consent to analysis permission is given. A user who has entered into a subscription service agreement or a printer (image processing device) should have given a permission equivalent to consent to analysis permission at the time of entering into the subscription service agreement. That is, consent from the user to transmit the number of copies printed should have been obtained as the information necessary for using the subscription service. Therefore, when the subscription service is being used (contracted), it is considered unnecessary to obtain consent to analysis permission again. Conversely, if the user accidentally performs a non-consent operation for analysis permission, the user will not be able to use the subscription service that they should have contracted, which is an unfavorable situation for the user.

[0047] In S408, the CPU 201 selects the conversion table 1 from the purpose-specific permission to transmission permission shown in FIG. 6(c). The conversion table 1 indicates that when an operation indicating consent to service permission is received, information indicating consent (first information) as transmission permission is transmitted to the image processing device 100 regardless of whether consent to analysis permission has been given. Also, the conversion table 1 indicates that when an operation indicating non-consent to service permission is received, information indicating non-consent (second information) as transmission permission is transmitted to the image processing device 100 regardless of whether consent to analysis permission has been given. On the other hand, in S409, the CPU 201 selects the conversion table 2 from the per-purpose permission to the transmission permission shown in FIG. 6(d). The conversion table 2 indicates that when an operation indicating agreement with both the service permission and the analysis permission is received, information indicating agreement (first information) as the transmission permission is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. Further, the conversion table 2 indicates that when an operation indicating disagreement with at least one of the service permission and the transmission permission (that is, both or one of them) is received, information indicating disagreement (second information) as the transmission permission is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. In S410, the CPU 201 converts the agreement information from the per-purpose permission to the transmission permission using the conversion table 1 or the conversion table 2. In S411, the CPU 201 communicates with the image processing apparatus 100 using the communication control unit 204, and transmits the agreement information of the transmission permission obtained in S410 and the version information held in S403 to the image processing apparatus 100. Then, the CPU 201 ends the processing of this flowchart.

[0048] The reason for dividing the conditions for converting the agreement information from the per-purpose permission to the transmission permission depending on whether the subscription service is supported is as follows. First, when treating the conversion from the per-purpose permission to the transmission permission more strictly, it is better to set the transmission permission as agreed when agreement has been obtained for all per-purpose permissions. That is, generally, it is better to use the conversion table 2 shown in FIG. 5(d). On the other hand, when the image processing apparatus 100 supports the subscription service and does not support the per-purpose permission, it is conceivable that the subscription service is activated on the condition of agreement of the transmission permission. If the user agrees to the service permission to use the subscription service with the mobile terminal 200 but disagrees to the analysis permission, the transmission permission will be disagreed according to the conversion table 2 shown in FIG. 5(d). Therefore, it becomes impossible to activate the subscription service as intended by the user. Therefore, in order to avoid demerits for the user, it is also necessary to determine the agreement information of the transmission permission using only the agreement information of the service permission regardless of the agreement status of the analysis permission, that is, the conversion table 1 shown in FIG. 5(c).

[0049] That is, when supporting a subscription service, there is a possibility that the user has subscribed to and is using the subscription service. Therefore, as in this embodiment, when not supporting per-purpose licensing and transmitting the consent status to a model that supports a subscription service, Conversion Table 1 is used. This can avoid the above-mentioned unfavorable situations in the case of subscribing to and using a subscription service. In this embodiment, an example of selectively using Conversion Table 1 or 2 depending on whether a subscription service is supported has been described. However, it is not limited to this. When information indicating whether the user is subscribing to and using a subscription service (usage status information) can be obtained, it may be selectively used accordingly. That is, when it can be determined based on the usage status information that the user is subscribing to and using a subscription service, Conversion Table 1 is used; otherwise (for example, even if it is a model that supports it but the user has not subscribed), Conversion Table 2 may be used.

[0050] In this embodiment, the conversion table to be used is selected based on whether a subscription service is supported. However, the selection criterion for the conversion table is not limited to whether a subscription service is supported. In addition to a subscription service, if the conditions for using the image processing apparatus 100 include consent to service licensing, it can be a condition for selecting Conversion Table 1.

[0051] Also, instead of selecting the conversion table to be used according to conditions, it may be converted based on either one. That is, the process may proceed to S408 without performing the process of S407. Conversely, the process may proceed to S409 without performing the process of S407.

[0052] Also, in this embodiment, after acquiring the capability information of the image processing apparatus 100 in S404, the consent status of the purpose-specific license (consent status regarding multiple types of licenses) or the consent status of the transmission license (single consent status) is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. However, the acquisition of the capability information is not necessarily required. For example, without acquiring the capability information of the image processing apparatus 100, both the consent status of the purpose-specific license and the consent status of the transmission license obtained by converting from the purpose-specific license may be transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100. That is, a means of entrusting the image processing apparatus 100 with how to reflect and set each transmitted license information can also be adopted.

[0053] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment. In the image processing apparatus 100, the processing flow from receiving information indicating the consent status of the purpose-specific license from the mobile terminal 200 to holding the information in the non-volatile memory 109 will be described. Each process in this flowchart is realized by the CPU 101 expanding and executing a program stored in the program memory 102 in the RAM 110.

[0054] In S701, the CPU 101 communicates with the mobile terminal 200 using the communication control unit 104 in the image processing apparatus 100 and receives information indicating the consent status of the purpose-specific license (that is, information indicating the consent status for multiple types of license statements). In S702, the CPU 101 checks the validity of the received information indicating the consent status of the purpose-specific license. Here, the validity check is a control for checking whether the information indicating the consent status of the purpose-specific license obtained through communication is interpretable by the image processing apparatus 100. For example, in the case of an image processing apparatus 100 sold in the past that has not been firmware-updated, the information indicating the consent status of the purpose-specific license received from the mobile terminal 200 and accepted by the latest application may be unknown. The image processing apparatus 100 will attempt to set information indicating the consent status of the purpose-specific license that it can interpret.

[0055] In S703, the CPU 101 determines whether the information indicating the consent status of the received license for each purpose is valid, that is, whether it is a license for each purpose that the image processing apparatus 100 can interpret. If it is information indicating the consent status of a license for each purpose that cannot be interpreted, the CPU 101 ends the processing of this flowchart. If it is information indicating the consent status of a license for each purpose that can be interpreted, the CPU 101 proceeds to S704.

[0056] In S704, the CPU 101 determines the license version among the information indicating the consent status of the received license for each purpose. That is, the CPU 101 compares the received license version with the license version held in the non-volatile memory 109 of the image processing apparatus 100 to determine their magnitude relationship. If the value of the received license version is greater than or equal to the current value of the held license version, it can be seen that the license text is the same or newer. If it is determined that the value of the received license version is greater than or equal to the value of the held license version, the CPU 101 proceeds to S705. If it is determined that the value of the received license version is less than the value of the held license version, the CPU 101 does not update the information indicating the consent status of the license for each purpose held in the non-volatile memory 109 (information held since before reception in S701). Then, the processing of this flowchart ends. That is, the information received in S701 is discarded. The reason that the value of the received license version is less than the value of the held license version is that the license text becomes old, and it is determined that it cannot be updated with the received consent information for the license for each purpose.

[0057] In S705, the CPU 101 updates (overwrites) the information indicating the consent status of the per-purpose permission held in the non-volatile memory 109 based on the information indicating the consent status of the per-purpose permission received in S701. Thereafter, the CPU 101 ends the processing of this flowchart. Note that if the information indicating the received consent status is for transmission permission and the permission version information is not received, only the validity check of the received information (processing of S703) is performed. If it is determined that the received information is valid, the information indicating the consent status is updated based on the information received in S701 without performing the processing of S704.

[0058] As described above, in the mobile terminal 200, an operation for the user to consent or not to the per-purpose permission content is received, information indicating the consent status based on the received operation is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 100, and the processing for updating the information indicating the consent status in the image processing apparatus 100 is described.

[0059] As described above, according to the present embodiment, the reception status (consent status) in the information processing apparatus of the user operation information indicating whether to consent to the permission content (permission statement) can be more appropriately reflected in the electronic device. Specifically, even if the image processing apparatus, which is a type of electronic device, is a model that does not support per-purpose permission, the per-purpose permission received from the user on the mobile terminal side (information processing apparatus side) is appropriately converted into transmission permission based on the capability information of the image processing apparatus and transmitted to the image processing apparatus.

[0060] Note that in this embodiment, the mobile terminal 200 did not check the license version held by the image processing apparatus 100, but this is not always the case. For example, before transmitting the consent information for purpose-specific licensing to the image processing apparatus 100 at 306, the mobile terminal 200 acquires the license version held by the image processing apparatus 100. Then, the following processing may be performed. That is, when the version value of the license content (at the mobile terminal 200) for which the operation of consent or non-consent has been received at the mobile terminal 200 is equal to or higher than the value of the license version held by the image processing apparatus 100, information on purpose-specific licensing or transmission licensing is transmitted. This is as per the processing of FIG. 4 described above. On the other hand, when the value of the license version at the mobile terminal 200 is less than the value of the license version held by the image processing apparatus 100, control is performed so as not to transmit information on the license status (purpose-specific licensing or transmission licensing) as per the processing of FIG. 4 described above.

[0061] Also, in this embodiment, the freshness of the license statement was verified using the license version, but this is not always the case. For example, it is also possible to use the information on the update date and time of the license statement and update the consent information when the update date and time of the license statement is newer than the update date and time of the consent information.

[0062] Furthermore, it is also possible to use a plurality of pieces of information capable of verifying freshness, such as using the license version and the time when consent information was obtained from the user (hereinafter referred to as the consent time) in combination. In this case, first, a comparison is made between the received license version of the target and the license version held by the image processing apparatus 100. Then, when the license versions match, a comparison is made between the received consent time and the consent time held by the image processing apparatus 100. This is because even when the consent time is new, if the license version becomes old, the consent information of the image processing apparatus 100 must not be updated, so it is necessary to first verify the freshness of the license version. By combining a plurality of pieces of information capable of verifying freshness in this way, it is also possible to reflect the consent information more in line with the user's intention to the image processing apparatus 100.

[0063] Also, in this embodiment, the license version is set to one for each purpose-specific license, but this is not always the case. For example, there may be license versions corresponding to service licenses and analysis licenses respectively, and license version determination may be performed for each purpose-specific license.

[0064] In this embodiment, the case where the mobile terminal 200 corresponds to the purpose-specific license and the image processing apparatus 100 does not correspond to the purpose-specific license has been described. However, the reverse case may also occur. That is, the case where the mobile terminal 200 does not correspond to the purpose-specific license and the image processing apparatus 100 corresponds to the purpose-specific license. In this case, since the transmission license is transmitted from the mobile terminal 200 to the image processing apparatus 100, the transmission license received by the image processing apparatus 100 does not reflect the purpose-specific license. This is because if "setting the purpose-specific license from the transmission license" is done, it will go against the strengthening of the Personal Information Protection Law, which is the background for the introduction of the purpose-specific license.

[0065] Note that each of the various controls described above as being performed by the mobile terminal 200 and the image processing apparatus 100 may be performed by one piece of hardware, or the entire control of the apparatus may be performed by a plurality of pieces of hardware (for example, a plurality of processors or circuits) sharing the processing.

[0066] Also, although the present invention has been described in detail based on its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms within the scope not departing from the gist of this invention are also included in the present invention. Furthermore, each of the above-described embodiments merely shows one embodiment of the present invention, and it is also possible to appropriately combine the embodiments.

[0067] In the above-described embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to a mobile terminal and an image processing apparatus has been described as an example. However, this is not limited to this example and is applicable to any electronic device that handles purpose-specific licenses. That is, the present invention is applicable to a personal computer, a PDA, a mobile phone terminal, a portable image viewer, a printer device equipped with a display, and the like. Further, it is applicable to a digital photo frame, a music player, a game machine, an e-book reader, a television, a tablet terminal, a set-top box, a voice speaker, and the like.

[0068] <Other Embodiments> The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and causing one or more processors in a computer of the system or device to read and execute the program. Further, it can also be realized by a circuit (for example, an ASIC) that realizes one or more functions. Further, the present disclosure includes the following configurations. (Configuration 1) Receiving means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to a first license content regarding information transmission from an electronic device and a user operation indicating whether to consent to a second license content different from the first license content regarding information transmission from the electronic device, When an operation indicating consent to the first license content is received, controlling to transmit first information corresponding to the consent to the electronic device regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second license content is received, When an operation indicating non-consent to the first license content is received, controlling to transmit second information corresponding to the non-consent to the electronic device regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second license content is received, An information processing apparatus characterized by having the above. (Configuration 2) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 1, wherein the control means controls such that when transmitting the first information, the second information is not transmitted, and when transmitting the second information, the first information is not transmitted. (Configuration 3) further comprising acquisition means for acquiring the capability information of the electronic device, The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 2, wherein the control means controls to transmit to the electronic device both information of a third type indicating whether an operation indicating consent to the first content of permission has been received and information of a fourth type indicating whether an operation indicating consent to the second content of permission has been received when the capability information acquired by the acquisition means satisfies a predetermined condition. (Configuration 4) The predetermined condition is that the capability information indicates that the electronic device has the ability to store the consent status of both the first content of permission and the second content of permission respectively. The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 3, characterized in that it is so. (Configuration 5) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 4, wherein the control means controls not to transmit any of the first information and the second information to the electronic device when the capability information acquired by the acquisition means satisfies the predetermined condition. (Configuration 6) The first content of permission is a content of permission regarding transmitting information for the electronic device to use the service provided by the server system, and the second content of permission is a content of permission regarding transmitting information indicating the usage status of the electronic device, the information processing apparatus according to Configuration 1. (Configuration 7) When the control means does not satisfy a specific condition, when an operation indicating consent to both the first content of permission and the second content of permission is received, controls to transmit the first information to the electronic device, When receiving an operation indicating disagreement with at least one of the first permission content and the second permission content, controlling to transmit the second information to the electronic device. The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 1, characterized by the above. (Configuration 8) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 7, characterized in that the specific condition is that the electronic device supports the use of a specific service that requires the electronic device to transmit information to the server system. (Configuration 9) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 8, characterized in that the specific service is a service controlled based on the usage status of the electronic device. (Configuration 10) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 9, characterized in that the electronic device is a printer, and the specific service is a subscription service that allows printing up to a maximum number of copies at a fixed rate for a predetermined period. (Configuration 11) The information processing apparatus according to Configuration 1, characterized in that the electronic device is a printer. (Configuration 12) Receiving means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to agree to the first permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device and a user operation indicating whether to agree to a second permission content different from the first permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device. When receiving an operation indicating agreement with both the first permission content and the second permission content, controlling to transmit the first information corresponding to the agreement to the electronic device. Control means for controlling to transmit the second information corresponding to the disagreement to the electronic device when receiving an operation indicating disagreement with at least one of the first permission content and the second permission content. An information processing apparatus, characterized by having the above. (Configuration 13) Receiving means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to agree to the permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device. First specific information indicating the novelty of the content of the permission that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device, and An acquisition means for acquiring second specific information indicating the novelty of the content of the permission that is the target of the user operation received by the reception means; When it is indicated that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information, information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the reception means is transmitted to the electronic device, A control means for controlling not to transmit information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the reception means to the electronic device when it is indicated that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information; An information processing apparatus characterized by having the above. (Configuration 14) An electronic device, A receiving means for receiving information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the receiving means from an information processing apparatus having a receiving means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to the content of the permission regarding information transmission from the electronic device; First specific information indicating the novelty of the content of the permission that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device, and An acquisition means for acquiring second specific information indicating the novelty of the content of the permission that is the target of the user operation received by the reception means; When the information indicates that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information, the consent status recorded in the electronic device is updated based on the information received by the receiving means, A control means for controlling not to update the consent status recorded in the electronic device based on the information received by the receiving means when the information indicates that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information; An electronic device characterized by having the above. (Configuration 15) The electronic device according to Configuration 14, characterized in that the first specific information and the second specific information are at least one of information indicating a version and information indicating an update date and time. (Configuration 16) A reception step of receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to a first permission content regarding information transmission from an electronic device and a user operation indicating whether to consent to a second permission content different from the first permission content regarding the information transmission from the electronic device, When an operation indicating consent to the first permission content is received, control is performed to transmit first information corresponding to the consent to the electronic device regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second permission content is received, A control step of, when an operation indicating non-consent to the first permission content is received, controlling to transmit second information corresponding to the non-consent to the electronic device regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second permission content is received, A control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising the above. (Configuration 17) A reception step of receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to a first permission content regarding information transmission from an electronic device and a user operation indicating whether to consent to a second permission content different from the first permission content regarding the information transmission from the electronic device, When an operation indicating consent to both the first permission content and the second permission content is received, control is performed to transmit first information corresponding to the consent to the electronic device, A control step of, when an operation indicating non-consent to at least one of the first permission content and the second permission content is received, controlling to transmit second information corresponding to the non-consent to the electronic device, A control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising the above. (Configuration 18) A reception step of receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to a permission content regarding information transmission from an electronic device, First specific information indicating the newness of the permission content that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device, An acquisition step of acquiring second specific information indicating the newness of the permission content that is the target of the user operation received in the reception step, When it is indicated that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information, information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received in the reception step is transmitted to the electronic device, When it is indicated that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information, a control step of controlling not to transmit information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received in the reception step to the electronic device; A control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising: (Configuration 19) A control method for an electronic device, comprising: a reception step of receiving, from an information processing apparatus having a reception means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to the content of permission regarding information transmission from the electronic device, information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the reception means; a first specific information indicating the newness of the content of permission that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device; an acquisition step of acquiring a second specific information indicating the newness of the content of permission that is the target of the user operation received by the reception means; a control step of updating the consent status recorded in the electronic device based on the information received in the reception step when the information indicates that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information; a control step of controlling not to update the consent status recorded in the electronic device based on the information received in the reception step when the information indicates that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information; A control method for an electronic device, characterized by comprising: (Configuration 20) A program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 13. (Configuration 21) A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the information processing apparatus according to any one of Configurations 1 to 13. (Configuration 22) A program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the electronic device described in Configuration 14 or 15. (Configuration 23) A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the electronic device described in Configuration 14 or 15.

Claims

1. Receiving means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to a first permission content regarding information transmission from an electronic device and a user operation indicating whether to consent to a second permission content different from the first permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device; When an operation indicating consent to the first permission content is received, control is performed to transmit first information corresponding to consent to the electronic device regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second permission content is received; Control means for, when an operation indicating non-consent to the first permission content is received, controlling to transmit second information corresponding to non-consent to the electronic device regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second permission content is received; An information processing apparatus characterized by comprising the above.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means controls such that when transmitting the first information, the second information is not transmitted, and when transmitting the second information, the first information is not transmitted.

3. Further comprising acquisition means for acquiring the capability information of the electronic device; The control means controls to transmit to the electronic device both third-type information indicating whether an operation indicating consent to the first permission content is received and fourth-type information indicating whether an operation indicating consent to the second permission content is received when the capability information acquired by the acquisition means satisfies a predetermined condition. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that.

4. The predetermined condition is that the capability information indicates that the electronic device has the ability to store the consent status of both the first permission content and the second permission content; The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that it is as described above.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control means controls not to transmit any of the first information and the second information to the electronic device when the capability information acquired by the acquisition means satisfies the predetermined condition.

6. The first permission content is a permission content regarding transmitting information for the electronic device to use a service provided by a server system, and the second permission content is a permission content regarding transmitting information indicating the usage status of the electronic device. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that.

7. When the control means does not satisfy a specific condition, when receiving an operation indicating consent to both the first permission content and the second permission content, it controls to transmit the first information to the electronic device, when receiving an operation indicating non-consent to at least one of the first permission content and the second permission content, it controls to transmit the second information to the electronic device, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the specific condition is that the electronic device corresponds to the use of a specific service that requires transmitting information to the server system.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the specific service is a service controlled based on the usage status of the electronic device.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the electronic device is a printer, and the specific service is a subscription service that can perform printing up to a maximum number of sheets at a fixed amount for a predetermined period.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the electronic device is a printer.

12. Receiving means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to the first permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device and a user operation indicating whether to consent to a second permission content different from the first permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device, when receiving an operation indicating consent to both the first permission content and the second permission content, it controls to transmit the first information corresponding to the consent to the electronic device, control means for controlling to transmit the second information corresponding to the non-consent to the electronic device when receiving an operation indicating non-consent to at least one of the first permission content and the second permission content, An information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising.

13. Receiving means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to the permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device, first specific information indicating the newness of the permission content that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device, acquisition means for acquiring second specific information indicating the newness of the permission content that is the target of the user operation received by the receiving means, When indicating that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information, information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the reception means is transmitted to the electronic device, When indicating that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information, control means for controlling not to transmit information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the reception means to the electronic device; An information processing apparatus characterized by including the above.

14. An electronic device, Receiving means for receiving information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the reception means from an information processing apparatus having reception means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to the content of permission regarding information transmission from the electronic device; First specific information indicating the newness of the content of permission that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device; Obtaining means for obtaining second specific information indicating the newness of the content of permission that is the target of the user operation received by the reception means; When it is information indicating that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information, the consent status recorded in the electronic device is updated based on the information received by the receiving means, When it is information indicating that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information, control means for controlling not to update the consent status recorded in the electronic device based on the information received by the receiving means; An electronic device characterized by including the above.

15. The electronic device according to claim 14, wherein the first specific information and the second specific information are at least one of information indicating a version and information indicating an update date and time.

16. A reception step of receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to a first content of permission regarding information transmission from an electronic device and a user operation indicating whether to consent to a second content of permission different from the first content of permission regarding information transmission from the electronic device; When an operation indicating consent to the first content of permission is received, control is performed to transmit first information corresponding to the consent to the electronic device regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second content of permission has been received. When an operation indicating non - consent to the first permission content is received, regardless of whether an operation indicating consent to the second permission content is received, a control step of controlling to transmit second information corresponding to the non - consent to the electronic device; A control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising the above.

17. A reception step of receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to first permission content regarding information transmission from an electronic device, and a user operation indicating whether to consent to second permission content different from the first permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device; When an operation indicating consent to both the first permission content and the second permission content is received, controlling to transmit first information corresponding to the consent to the electronic device; When an operation indicating non - consent to at least one of the first permission content and the second permission content is received, a control step of controlling to transmit second information corresponding to the non - consent to the electronic device; A control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising the above.

18. A reception step of receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to permission content regarding information transmission from an electronic device; A first specific information indicating the newness of the permission content that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device; An acquisition step of acquiring a second specific information indicating the newness of the permission content that is the target of the user operation received in the reception step; When it is shown that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information, transmitting information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received in the reception step to the electronic device; When it is shown that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information, a control step of controlling not to transmit information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received in the reception step to the electronic device; A control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized by comprising the above.

19. A control method for an electronic device, comprising: A reception step of receiving, from an information processing apparatus having a reception means for receiving a user operation indicating whether to consent to permission content regarding information transmission from the electronic device, information indicating the consent status based on the user operation received by the reception means; A first specific information indicating the newness of the permission content that is the target of the consent status recorded in the electronic device; An acquisition step of acquiring second specific information indicating the novelty of the content of the permission that is the target of the user operation received by the reception means; When the information indicates that the second specific information is newer than the first specific information, update the consent status recorded in the electronic device based on the information received in the reception step; A control step of controlling not to update the consent status recorded in the electronic device based on the information received in the reception step when the information indicates that the first specific information is newer than the second specific information; A method for controlling an electronic device, comprising the steps of:

20. A program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

21. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

22. A program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the electronic device according to claim 14 or 15.

23. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing at least one computer to function as each means of the electronic device according to claim 14 or 15.

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