Cookie Expiration Based on User Idle Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing web browsing systems using cookies for idle detection often set arbitrary timer lengths, leading to premature expiration while the user is active, causing frequent re-login requirements and compromising security with overly long timers.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize cookies with embedded policies to detect idle conditions by monitoring user input signals from devices like mice, keyboards, and biometric sensors, allowing the cookie to remain active as long as the user is engaged, and expire when the user is idle or away, enabling the web server to adjust content delivery accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the cookie timer expiration length is set short, then security is improved, but user experience deteriorates due to frequent re-login requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the cookie expiration timer adjustable and adaptive rather than fixed. The system dynamically resets the timer based on user activity detection, allowing the expiration length to change according to actual usage patterns. This resolves the contradiction by enabling short timers for security when idle while maintaining long timers for user experience when actively engaged.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of timer expiration length from a static arbitrary value to a dynamic value that changes based on detected user activity. By monitoring user interactions and adjusting the timer parameter accordingly, the system achieves both security (through timely expiration when idle) and good user experience (by extending timer when active).
2Ease of operation
If the cookie timer expiration length is set long, then user experience is improved, but security deteriorates due to extended active sessions
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses dynamic timer adjustment to maintain long expiration periods during active user engagement (improving user experience) while automatically resetting or expiring the timer when idle activity is detected (maintaining security). This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between long timers for UX and security requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms by monitoring user activity and using this information to adjust cookie expiration timing. The system receives feedback from user interactions and responds by extending or resetting the timer, thereby maintaining both security and user experience without the trade-off inherent in static timer settings.
3Reliability
If the cookie timer expires while the user is actively on the page, then security is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to interruption of browsing session
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting user activity in advance and proactively resetting the cookie timer before it would naturally expire. This prevents premature expiration during active browsing, maintaining both security (through timely expiration when truly idle) and productivity (by avoiding interruptions during active sessions).
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from activity monitoring to determine when to reset the timer, ensuring that expiration only occurs when the user is genuinely idle. This feedback mechanism prevents false expirations that would interrupt productive browsing while still maintaining security through proper expiration when appropriate.
Data Source
AI summary
Detecting Internet web navigation and web browsing idle conditions using cookies during navigating and browsing sessions, is accomplished by receiving in a local computer, from a server, a cookie that has a policy that causes the cookie to have either an active or an expired status, based on the presence of web content provided by the server or detection that either the user is idle or the user is away from the computer. A signal from the user of the computer activates the policy in the cookie, causing the cookie to have a status of either active or expired. When a signal is received from the server requesting the status of the cookie, the computer determines whether the status of the cookie is active or expired. When the status is active, the server continues to provide content to the computer and when the status is expired, the server stops sending content.