Digital Ticket Assertion for Privacy-Respecting Coupon Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
It is challenging to determine if a user has interacted with a physical store's digital indicator to purchase goods or services, due to privacy concerns surrounding electronic device tracking.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a server computer that generates an assertion based on a target entity's interaction with a digital indicator, including an identity attribute, which is used to facilitate transactions and can include digital coupons, with domain restrictions for usage, and notifications to resource providers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If electronic device tracking is used to monitor user location and interactions, then the ability to track user activity and verify store interactions is improved, but user privacy is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a digital indicator as an intermediary element that mediates between the user's device and the resource provider's tracking system. The digital indicator contains encoded information about the resource provider and interaction details, allowing verification without direct tracking of the user's device location or continuous monitoring, thus resolving the privacy concern while maintaining measurement capability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of tracking the actual user device location and activity, the system creates a digital copy or representation of the interaction through the digital indicator. The indicator captures essential interaction data (resource provider identity, location, timestamp) without copying or transmitting sensitive user personal information, enabling verification through a simplified representation
2Reliability
If digital indicators are used to track user interactions with physical stores, then the ability to verify in-store evaluation is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system is segmented into distinct functional components: the digital indicator (containing encoded resource provider information), the user's electronic device (which scans and processes the indicator), and the server system (which verifies and stores interaction data). This segmentation allows each component to perform its function independently with simple logic, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining verification reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The digital indicator serves multiple functions simultaneously: it identifies the resource provider, encodes location information, timestamps the interaction, and provides verification data. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate tracking mechanisms into a single element, reducing system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are methods and systems for enabling an assertion to be provided to a relying entity that is associated with a discount or digital coupon for an item in a transaction. The assertion may indicate an interaction by a user device with a digital indicator associated with the item and/or a resource provider offering the item. The assertion may be associated with a user and redeemed at a later time to apply a discount for an item involved in a transaction. The assertion may indicate an interaction with a digital indicator at one location for an item and redeemed at another location, including an online transaction, for the same item.