Anonymizing Location Queries Using Peer Device False Query Generation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Location-based services (LBSs) often compromise user privacy as service providers need continuous location updates, which may exceed the desired level of information sharing by users.
Innovation Solution
A privacy-protection system that uses a trusted server to select peer devices and generate false queries, anonymizing location data by transmitting a real query and false queries to the service provider, allowing only the real query response to be returned to the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the user's device communicates directly with the LBS provider to receive continuous location updates, then the service functionality is maintained, but the user's privacy is compromised as the provider monitors continuous location changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a peer device as an intermediary that relays location information between the user's device and the LBS provider. The peer device receives location updates from the user's device and forwards them to the provider, while receiving service responses and forwarding them back. This mediator approach maintains service functionality while preventing direct monitoring of the user's actual location by the provider.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a peer device that copies the user's location information and service interactions. The peer device receives the same location updates and service requests, processes them through the LBS provider, and returns the responses. This copying mechanism allows the service to function with actual location data while the user's device never directly exposes its location to the provider.
2Loss of information
If a distributed setting is used where the user's device communicates with multiple peers to choose a random peer for communication, then some privacy is provided, but the complexity of peer selection and communication management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designates a specific peer device as an intermediary that handles all communication with the LBS provider. Instead of requiring the user's device to manage multiple peer connections and random selection, a single trusted peer acts as the communication gateway, simplifying the user device's role while maintaining privacy through the peer relationship.
3Loss of information
If a centralized setting with a trusted server is used to transform location data before communication with the provider, then privacy is improved, but the system complexity and trust requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a peer device that maintains an identical copy of the user's location state and service context. Rather than requiring complex transformation algorithms or multiple trusted servers, the peer device simply replicates the user device's location information and interaction state, providing privacy through the peer relationship while keeping the system architecture simple and familiar.
4Loss of information
If false queries are generated and transmitted along with the real query to the service provider, then k-anonymity is achieved and resilience against observation attacks is provided, but the quantity of data transmitted and processed increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent generates false queries by copying the structure and format of real queries from the user device, but directed at different locations or times. The peer device creates these duplicate query patterns based on the user's actual query behavior, providing k-anonymity through query diversification while maintaining efficient data transmission by reusing the user device's existing query templates and parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, a computer-implemented method includes receiving a first location-based service (LBS) request from a requesting device. One or more peer devices are selected from a plurality of actual peer devices. A set of false queries is generated, by a computer processor, based on the selected peer devices. Transmitted to a service provider are a real query, representing the first LBS request of the requesting device, and the set of false queries representing the selected peer devices. A set of query responses are received from the service provider. From the set of query responses, a real query response is extracted, corresponding to the real query. The real query response is transmitted to the requesting device in reply to the first LBS request.