Client-Centered Usage Classification for Privacy-Preserving Targeting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing online privacy protection tools fail to effectively manage user privacy concerns by allowing personal information to be collected and used for targeted advertising without user consent, while also limiting the benefits of personalized content.
Innovation Solution
Implementing client-centered usage classification techniques that filter and obfuscate user input information at the client computing environment to create a user profile, excluding personal information and sending an obfuscated profile to server-side services for targeted content provision, allowing users to control their data and receive personalized information without compromising privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If cookies are prevented from being stored on client machines to protect user privacy, then user privacy is improved, but users lose the convenient features that cookies provide such as persistence and automatic login to websites
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism where the browser acts as a mediator between the user and server-side tracking services. The browser collects user input information, filters out personal information, creates a user profile, and sends this profile to server-side services without directly storing cookies on the client machine. This intermediary approach allows targeted content provision while maintaining user privacy and preventing direct server tracking.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If server-side services perform periodic cleansing or expiration of server logs to protect user privacy, then user privacy is improved, but the server-side service's ability to use targeting to provide useful information to the user is diminished
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the client computing environment filter and classify user input information before it reaches the server-side service. The browser pre-processes user behavior data, removes personal information, creates a user profile, and sends this processed profile to the server. This preliminary filtering action preserves the server's ability to provide targeted content while ensuring user privacy is maintained throughout the data lifecycle.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If opt-out cookies are stored on user's client machine to indicate user does not wish to be tracked, then user privacy control is improved, but such cookies can be inadvertently deleted when a user deletes other browsing cookies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the browser an intermediary that handles user input information filtering and classification independently of traditional cookie mechanisms. The browser creates and manages user profiles that are sent to server-side services without relying on persistent cookies stored on the client machine. This intermediary approach eliminates the reliability issue of cookie deletion while maintaining user privacy control.
4Productivity
If server-side services continue to track users to provide targeted information, then user receives beneficial targeted content, but users lose control over their personal information and server services have motive to track users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional tracking model by having the client computing environment initiate the information flow to the server. Instead of the server actively tracking and monitoring user behavior, the browser collects user input information, filters it, creates a user profile, and actively sends this profile to the server-side service. This inversion gives users control over their information while maintaining targeted content provision capability.
Data Source
AI summary
User input actions from one or more user input devices can be received, and unfiltered user input information about the user input actions can be collected at a client computing environment. The unfiltered user input information can be filtered to produce filtered user input information. The filtered user input information can exclude personal information and include non-personal information. In addition, a user profile can be created using the filtered user input information.