Anonymous Digital Purchase Intermediary for Consumer Identity Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the digital world, existing solutions for online media purchases and services often compromise user anonymity, as they aim to maximize information collection about individuals, leading to potential privacy issues as more media is distributed over the internet.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that allows consumers to make anonymous purchases by using an intermediary computer to assign an anonymous client identifier, creating a 'Rights Certificate' that includes authentication data and vendor information, without disclosing the consumer's identity, and utilizing a certificate store for secure transaction verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing online solutions maximize information collection about individuals, then vendor control and tracking capability are improved, but consumer anonymity and privacy are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary system that acts as a mediator between the consumer and vendor. The intermediary assigns anonymous client identifiers to consumers and relays authentication data between parties without revealing consumer identity. This resolves the contradiction by enabling vendor control through authenticated transactions while preserving consumer anonymity through the intermediary's buffer role.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the identification system into multiple layers: consumer identity (kept private), anonymous client identifier (used for transactions), and authentication data (verified by intermediary). This segmentation allows the vendor to control transactions through verified authentication while the consumer's actual identity remains segmented off and protected from vendor access.
2Loss of information
If anonymous client identifiers are assigned for each session, then consumer anonymity is improved, but vendor authentication capability is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediary serves as the trusted mediator that holds the connection between anonymous client identifiers and consumer identities. The intermediary can verify authentication data against the assigned anonymous identifier without the vendor ever seeing the consumer's real identity. This resolves the contradiction by centralizing authentication verification capability in the intermediary while maintaining consumer anonymity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback loop where the intermediary verifies authentication data and confirms validity to the vendor without exposing consumer identity. The vendor receives feedback on authentication success/failure based on the anonymous identifier, resolving the contradiction by providing authentication verification capability through the intermediary's feedback mechanism rather than direct vendor-access to consumer data.
3Reliability
If authentication data is collected and stored, then transaction security is improved, but consumer tracking capability is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediary acts as a secure buffer that collects and stores authentication data linked only to anonymous client identifiers, not consumer identities. The vendor receives transaction security verification from the intermediary without accessing tracking-capable consumer data. This resolves the contradiction by enabling transaction security through authenticated data storage while preventing consumer tracking through the intermediary's anonymizing buffer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the consumer identity element from the authentication data storage process. Only anonymous client identifiers and authentication credentials are stored, with the actual consumer identity extracted and kept private by the consumer. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining transaction security through stored authentication data while removing the tracking capability that would arise from storing identifiable consumer information.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is concerned with enabling substantially anonymous purchases of media products or other products (or access to an on-line service) to be made on-line. In order to initiate a purchasing session, consisting of one or more purchasing transactions, the purchaser authenticates himself to a home provider computer (3) which ten allots an anonymous client identifier (clientID) to the client for the purposes of that session. The purchaser (1) contacts a vendor computer (6), using the anonymous identifier (clientID) and an anonymising HTTP proxy, in order to place an order for one or more products or services for which the vendor computer has the right to authorize delivery. In order to obtain delivery of the product or service from the repository computer (5), the purchaser (1) provides the clientID to the repository computer (3).