Consumer Information Manager for Anonymous Context Disclosure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face privacy concerns as they disclose personal information to entities over computer networks for targeted content, risking identification and potential harm to their reputation, financial well-being, and safety, while existing systems lack effective methods to protect user privacy in E-commerce and data processing.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a Consumer Information Manager (CIM) on consumer devices to selectively disclose anonymous context information, using dimension attributes and population counts to generate targeted content without revealing user identity, through a publish-and-subscribe model and secure authentication protocols, ensuring privacy protection while enabling relevant content delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users disclose personal information to entities over computer networks for targeted content, then content relevance and user experience are improved, but user privacy and safety are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments context information into two distinct categories: identifying information (which should be protected) and non-identifying context information (which can be shared for targeted content). This segmentation allows the system to provide relevant content while preventing user identification, directly resolving the contradiction between content relevance and privacy protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (the context information management system) that mediates between users and content entities. This intermediary selectively shares anonymized context information with entities while maintaining user privacy, enabling targeted content delivery without direct user disclosure of personal information.
2Productivity
If entities collect and use context information for targeted content, then user engagement is improved, but user identification and potential harm increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments context information into identifying and non-identifying components, allowing entities to use non-identifying context information for targeted content while excluding identifying information that could compromise user safety and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of context information that is stripped of identifying characteristics. This anonymized copy can be used for targeted content generation and user engagement while the original identifying information remains protected, thus maintaining user safety while enabling productivity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If personal information is disclosed for targeted content generation, then content personalization is improved, but reputation and financial well-being are at risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments context information to separate personalization data from identifying information. The system uses non-identifying context information for content personalization while protecting identifying information that could lead to reputation damage or financial harm.
Solution Approach 2:
The context information management system acts as an intermediary that enables content personalization through anonymized context sharing while blocking the disclosure of identifying information that could cause reputation and financial risks to users.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards selective disclosure of user or computing environment attributes to facilitate generation and/or provision of targeted content. In various embodiments, a likelihood that disclosure of an attribute of a user or of a computing environment associated with the user will enable identification of the user may be determined based on an associated population count of users or computing environments sharing the same attribute. In various embodiments, the attribute may be selectively disclosed to a content provider configured to provide targeted content, or a recommendation may be selectively provided to the user as to whether the user should disclose the attribute to the content provider, based on the determination and a risk tolerance associated with the user. In various embodiments, a dimension authority may track and make available population counts of users or computing environments having various attributes.