Digital Disappearing Ink for Cookie and Beacon Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling Internet-connected devices lack finer-grain controls for limiting Internet access, leading to vulnerabilities in private information disclosure, with traditional packet inspectors failing to inspect cookie and beacon content effectively, resulting in unauthorized data leakage.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a centralized, intelligent layer in devices like broadband routers to perform lexical analysis of cookies and beacons, enabling content-aware inspection and blocking or anonymization of sensitive information, while using a friendly man-in-the-middle approach to intercept and transform data streams.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional packet inspectors are used to control Internet access, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision of data stream content is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a friendly man-in-the-middle component that acts as an intermediary between the packet inspector and the data stream. This intermediary performs lexical analysis of cookies and beacons, extracting meaningful content without requiring the packet inspector itself to become complex. The intermediary transforms the inspection task from a complex content analysis problem into a simpler pattern-matching problem, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical packet inspection methods with a lexical analysis approach. Instead of examining raw packet data through complex filters, the system uses natural language processing techniques to analyze cookie and beacon content. This substitution enables precise content measurement while maintaining relatively simple system architecture, as lexical analysis is more efficient than traditional deep packet inspection.
2Reliability
If centralized intelligent layer is implemented for content-aware inspection, then privacy protection effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a centralized intelligent layer in the broadband router that performs multiple functions: lexical analysis of cookies, detection of sensitive information, identification of malware patterns, and enforcement of privacy policies. By consolidating these functions into a single multi-functional component, the system improves privacy protection effectiveness without proportionally increasing overall device complexity. The universal component handles diverse inspection tasks through a unified architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The friendly man-in-the-middle component operates autonomously, performing lexical analysis and making decisions about data stream transformation without requiring constant external intervention. The system self-manages the inspection process, automatically adjusting its behavior based on the content it analyzes. This self-service capability improves reliability by ensuring consistent privacy protection while reducing the operational complexity burden.
3Loss of information
If lexical analysis of cookies and beacons is performed, then loss of information is reduced, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary information from cookies and beacons through lexical analysis - specifically focusing on identifying sensitive data patterns and malware indicators. Rather than processing entire data streams or analyzing every byte, the system extracts only the relevant portions that require inspection. This selective extraction approach prevents information loss while minimizing energy consumption by avoiding unnecessary processing of irrelevant data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by performing lexical analysis only on specific elements (cookies and beacons) within the data stream rather than analyzing the entire stream. The system focuses its energy on the portions of the data that are most likely to contain sensitive information or malware, leaving other portions unprocessed. This partial inspection approach maintains effective data leakage prevention while significantly reducing overall energy consumption compared to full-stream analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a method, an apparatus and a computer-program product for implementing digital disappearing ink. An example method includes receiving portions of a data stream transmitted from a source and analyzing the portions of the data stream. Based on the analysis, the method includes performing an action with respect to an object tag according to the analysis.