Anonymous Customer Segmentation via Tokenized User Identifiers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current digital advertising solutions lack effective mechanisms to protect user privacy, as they often collect, analyze, and share personal user information without user consent or control, leading to privacy concerns.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows businesses to target customers without sharing personal information by using unique user identifiers generated by user devices, masking real identities with random strings, and segmenting users based on purchasing history and other factors, enabling anonymous targeting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If user information is collected and analyzed for targeted advertising, then advertising effectiveness is improved, but user privacy protection deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where users maintain control over their information through a user device that mediates between the advertising system and the user's personal information. The system uses encrypted tokens and user-defined rules as intermediaries to enable targeted advertising without direct access to raw personal information, thus resolving the contradiction between advertising effectiveness and privacy protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the information flow into distinct components: user information is segmented from advertising data through encryption and tokenization. The system divides the targeting process into segments where different entities (user device, advertising server, third-party servers) handle specific portions of the data lifecycle, ensuring privacy protection while maintaining advertising effectiveness.
2Measurement precision
If user information is shared with advertising systems, then targeting precision is improved, but user control over information deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where users receive notifications and can modify their information sharing preferences at any time. The system provides feedback loops that allow users to review which information is shared, with whom, and for what purpose, enabling them to maintain control while still benefiting from targeted advertising when desired.
Solution Approach 2:
The user device acts as an intermediary that maintains user control by managing encryption keys, tokens, and sharing rules. This intermediary layer ensures that even though information is shared with advertising systems for precise targeting, the user retains ultimate control through the ability to revoke access, modify preferences, and review sharing activities.
3Adaptability or versatility
If personal information is disclosed to advertising companies, then advertisement customization is improved, but information security deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses copying by creating encrypted representations (tokens) of user information that can be shared with advertising companies. These tokens are copies that contain the necessary information for customization but are secured through encryption, allowing advertisement customization while maintaining information security through the use of secure copies rather than direct disclosure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of information representation by transforming personal information into encrypted tokens with controlled accessibility. This parameter change allows the information to maintain its utility for customization purposes while simultaneously improving security through encryption, thus resolving the contradiction between customization and security.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for targeting segments of customers. A system maps users to targeting segments based on a respective purchase history of the users, and receives a segment identifier from a server, the segment identifier to be associated with a targeting segment from the targeting segments for anonymously identifying the targeting segment. Next, the system associates the segment identifier with the targeting segment and users mapped to the targeting segment, and sends, to the server, the segment identifier and unique user identifiers of the users mapped to the targeting segment associated with the segment identifier, the unique user identifiers masking respective identities of the users from the server and the segment identifier masking an identity of the targeting segment associated with the segment identifier. The system then instructs the server to deliver selected invitational content to at least one unique user identifier associated with the segment identifier.