Information processing methods

Abstract

To improve the technology that provides services to users over a network. [Solution] Server 10 stores a library that has been pre-received and cached from the authorization management server 20 regarding authorization information about personal data provided from the personal data service. Server 10 obtains authorization information corresponding to the service provider service from the library by executing the library. Based on the obtained authorization information, Server 10 sends a request to obtain personal data that it is authorized to provide to the service provider service, or sends the personal data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing method. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, technologies for providing services to users via a network are known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a system using CPNS that transmits an authority delegation request to a server so that a gateway device controlling a first service terminal can also provide a service to a second service terminal, and transmits a response including an authority delegation document when a service authority confirmation request is received from the second service terminal after receiving the authority delegation document from the server. Prior Art Documents Patent Documents

[0003] Patent Document 1 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-521143 Summary of the Invention Problem to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] There is room for improvement in technologies for providing services to users via a network.

[0005] The object is to improve the technology for providing services to users via a network. Means for Solving the Problem

[0006] An information processing method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is an information processing method executed by a server, which includes storing a library that has previously received and cached authorization information relating to personal data provided from a first service from an authorization management server; executing the library to obtain the authorization information corresponding to a second service provided by a business operator from the library; and transmitting personal data that is permitted to be provided to the second service, or a request to obtain the personal data, based on the obtained authorization information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one embodiment of this disclosure, the technology for providing services to users over a network is improved. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows the schematic configuration of the system related to this disclosure. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart showing the operation of the server related to this disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The embodiments of this disclosure will be described below.

[0010] (Summary of the embodiment) Referring to Figure 1, the configuration of System 1 according to this embodiment will be described. System 1 comprises a first server 10A that provides a first service that provides personal data (hereinafter referred to as the personal data service), a second server 10B that provides a second service provided by a business operator (hereinafter referred to as the business operator service), and an access control server 20 that manages access control information related to personal data. The first server 10A, the second server 10B, and the access control server 20 are, for example, server computers belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system that implement various functions. The first server 10A, the second server 10B, and the access control server 20 are connected to each other via a network 30 so that they can communicate with each other. Hereinafter, when the first server 10A and the second server 10B are treated the same, they will be referred to as server 10.

[0011] First, an overview of this embodiment will be described, and details will be described later. Server 10 stores a library that has been pre-received and cached from the authorization management server 20 regarding authorization information concerning personal data provided from the personal data service. Server 10 obtains authorization information corresponding to the service provider service from the library by executing the library. Based on the obtained authorization information, Server 10 sends personal data that is permitted to be provided to the service provider service, or a request to obtain personal data.

[0012] Conventionally, when acquiring personal data from personal data services, carrier services would use, for example, CPNS to request the acquisition of personal data from a process acting as a gateway between the personal data service and the carrier service, and acquire the personal data according to the authorization through the gateway. However, in this case, carrier services using communication methods not supported by the gateway would find it difficult to use personal data without customizing their carrier services, thus limiting the available carrier services. Also, for example, if multiple carrier services acquire personal data simultaneously, the likelihood of increased response times increases. In contrast, according to this embodiment, personal data is acquired through a library instead of a gateway. Therefore, carrier services can use personal data by customizing only the library. Furthermore, since authorization information regarding personal information is cached in advance in the library, the likelihood of reduced response times when multiple carrier services acquire personal data simultaneously increases. Thus, according to this embodiment, the technology for providing services to users over a network is improved in that it increases the likelihood that carrier services can use personal data services and reduces the likelihood of reduced response times for carrier services.

[0013] Next, we will describe the configuration of server 10 in detail.

[0014] (Server configuration) Server 10 comprises a communication unit 11, a storage unit 12, and a control unit 13. Hereinafter, the parts provided in the first server 10A will be referred to as the communication unit 11A, storage unit 12A, and control unit 13A, and the parts provided in the second server 10B will be referred to as the communication unit 11B, storage unit 12B, and control unit 13B.

[0015] The communication unit 11 includes one or more communication interfaces connected to the network 30. These communication interfaces support, but are not limited to, mobile communication standards such as 4G (4th Generation) or 5G (5th Generation). The communication unit 11 receives information used in the operation of the server 10 and transmits information obtained through the operation of the server 10.

[0016] The storage unit 12 includes one or more memories. The memories are, for example, semiconductor memories, magnetic memories, or optical memories, but are not limited to these. Each memory included in the storage unit 12 may function as, for example, a main memory, an auxiliary memory, or a cache memory. The storage unit 12 stores any information used for the operation of the server 10. In addition, for example, the storage unit 12 may store system programs, application programs, libraries, and embedded software. For example, the information stored in the storage unit 12 may be updatable with information obtained from the network 30 via the communication unit 11. Storage unit 12A stores the application program for personal data services and personal data. Storage unit 12B stores the application program for business operator services.

[0017] The control unit 13 includes at least one processor, at least one programmable circuit such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array), at least one dedicated circuit such as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit), or any combination thereof. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (central processing unit) or GPU (graphics processing unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The control unit 13 controls each part of the server 10 and executes processes related to the operation of the server 10.

[0018] (Server operation flow) Referring to Figure 2, the operation of the server 10 according to this embodiment will be described.

[0019] S100: The control unit 13 of the server 10 stores, in the storage unit 12, a library that has previously received and cached authority information related to personal data provided from a personal data service, from the authority management server 20.

[0020] "Personal data" refers to information associated with an individual, including for example personal information such as age and gender, health information, location information, purchase history, and the like.

[0021] "Authority information" refers to a combination of information that can identify the individual of personal data that each operator service is permitted to use, and usable personal data identification information. The identification information is, for example, the respective name of each piece of information included in personal data such as personal information, health information, location information, or purchase history. For example, the authority information for operator service A may be the age and health information of person A, as well as the age, gender, and health information of person B.

[0022] The server 10 may newly receive authority information from the authority management server 20. The reception of authority information may be performed at predetermined intervals such as 10 seconds, 1 minute, or 10 minutes, for example. Alternatively, the reception of authority information may be performed each time the authority information in the authority management server 20 is updated. When the newly received authority information is different from the authority information cached in the library, the server 10 updates the authority information cached in the library to the newly received authority information.

[0023] The authority information cached in the library may be only the portion required by the server 10. For example, the authority information stored in the library of the second server 10B that provides operator service A may be only the authority information corresponding to operator service A.

[0024] S101: The control unit 13 executes the library.

[0025] From this step onward, if the operation of server 10 differs in part between the case of the first server 10A and the case of the second server 10B, the cases will be explained separately. In the case of the first server 10A, when the control unit 13A of the first server 10A receives a request to acquire personal data from the second server 10B, which provides a business service that requires personal data, via the network 30 using the communication unit 11, it calls and executes a library. In the case of the second server 10B, when the control unit 13B of the second server 10B receives a request to acquire personal data from a business service provided by the second server 10B, it calls and executes a library.

[0026] S102: The control unit 13 acquires authorization information corresponding to the service provider's service.

[0027] In the case of the first server 10A, the control unit 13A retrieves the authorization information from the library cached to correspond to the service provider service of the second server 10B that made the request to acquire personal data. In the case of the second server 10B, the control unit 13B retrieves the authorization information from the library cached to correspond to the service provider service provided by the second server 10B.

[0028] S103: The control unit 13 identifies one or more pieces of identification information included in the authorization information.

[0029] For example, if the authorization information for service provider A includes the age and health information of person A, and the age, gender, and health information of person B, then the identification information included in the authorization information will consist of three pieces of information: age, gender, and health information. In this case, the control unit 13 determines that it has identified one or more pieces of identification information (S104-Yes) and proceeds to S105. If the control unit 13 cannot identify one or more pieces of identification information (S104-No), it terminates the process. Alternatively, if the control unit 13 cannot identify one or more pieces of identification information, it may notify the service provider that there is no authorization information for personal data.

[0030] S104: Based on the acquired authorization information, the control unit 13 transmits personal data that is permitted to be provided to the second service, or a request to acquire personal data.

[0031] In the case of the first server 10A, the control unit 13A transmits to the second server 10B the personal data that is permitted to be provided to the second service based on the authorization information obtained in S102. For example, if the authorization information for business service A is the age and health information of persons A and B, the control unit 13A transmits the age and health information of persons A and B to the second server 10B. In the case of the second server 10B, the control unit 13B transmits to the first server 10A a request to obtain personal data that is permitted to be provided to the second service based on the acquired authorization information. The control unit 13A transmits the personal data in response to the acquisition request to the second server 10B. For example, if the authorization information for business service A is the age and health information of persons A and B, the control unit 13B transmits to the first server 10A a request to obtain the age and health information of persons A and B. The control unit 13A transmits the age and health information of persons A and B to the second server 10B.

[0032] Furthermore, when the control unit 13A transmits personal data to the second server 10B, personal data corresponding to identification information not included in the authorization information of the business service may be dummy data. For example, if the personal data is age, gender, health information, and location information, and the authorization information for business service A is the age and health information of persons A and B, the control unit 13A will insert dummy data, such as "0", for the personal data other than the age and health information of persons A and B and transmit it to the second server 10B. With this configuration, the control unit 13A can send personal data to the second server 10B in the same format regardless of whether the authorization information granted to any business service changes. In addition, when the control unit 13A transmits personal data to the second server 10B, the personal data may be encrypted. With this configuration, the probability of the contents being leaked during the transmission of personal data is reduced.

[0033] While this disclosure has been described based on the drawings and embodiments, it should be noted that those skilled in the art may make various modifications and alterations based on this disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and alterations are within the scope of this disclosure. For example, the functions, etc., included in each component or step can be rearranged in a logically consistent manner, and multiple components or steps can be combined into one or divided into two.

[0034] For example, in the embodiment described above, it is also possible to have an embodiment in which the configuration and operation of the server 10 are distributed among multiple computers that can communicate with each other.

[0035] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, for example, the control unit 13 may send the logs of library execution to a computer that can communicate with the server 10, such as the access control server 20, in order to centrally manage the logs. The access control server 20 stores the received logs in its storage unit.

[0036] Furthermore, for example, in the embodiment described above, the control unit 13 may acquire errors that occurred when the library was executed. The control unit 13 may also notify the service provider of the second server 10B that made the request to acquire personal data of the acquired errors.

[0037] Furthermore, it is also possible to implement an embodiment in which a general-purpose computer functions as the server 10 according to the above-described embodiment. Specifically, a program describing the processing content that realizes each function of the server 10 according to the above-described embodiment is stored in the memory of the general-purpose computer, and the processor reads and executes the program. Therefore, this disclosure can also be implemented as a program that can be executed by a processor, or as a non-temporary computer-readable medium that stores said program. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0038] 10 Server, 11 Communication unit, 12 Storage unit, 13 Control unit, 20 privilege management servers, 30 networks

Claims

1. A method of information processing performed by a server, This involves storing a library that has pre-received and cached permission information regarding personal data provided by the first service from the permission management server, and By executing the aforementioned library, the authority information corresponding to the second service provided by the operator is obtained from the library, Based on the acquired authorization information, the provision of personal data to the second service is permitted, or a request to obtain such personal data is transmitted. Information processing methods, including those mentioned above.

2. The information processing method according to claim 1, The aforementioned server is a first server that provides the aforementioned first service, An information processing method comprising: the first server transmitting personal data authorized to be provided to the second service to the second server providing the second service, based on the acquired authorization information.

3. The information processing method according to claim 1, The aforementioned server is a second server that provides the aforementioned second service, An information processing method comprising: the second server sending a request to the first server providing the first service to obtain personal data that is permitted to be provided to the second service, based on the obtained authorization information.

4. The information processing method according to claim 1, Receiving new permission information from the aforementioned permission management server, If the newly received permission information differs from the permission information cached in the library, the permission information cached in the library is updated to the newly received permission information. An information processing method that further includes the above.

5. The information processing method according to claim 1, The log of the execution of the aforementioned library is sent to the access control server, An information processing method that further includes the above.

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