Email Sanitization System for Privacy Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Users face challenges in protecting their privacy due to the widespread collection and retention of personal data by service providers, leading to unwanted communications, as existing methods are inefficient in sanitizing email accounts effectively.
Innovation Solution
A digital footprint sanitizer system that uses a network interface circuit and processor to scan email inboxes, identify statistically infrequently received emails from service providers, and execute data deletion requests through identified protocols, leveraging OAuth2 for secure access and AI/ML for data processing and analysis, while minimizing API calls and data retention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users manually examine and sanitize their email accounts to protect privacy, then personal data can be deleted from service providers, but this process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated self-service email sanitization by having the software automatically scan inboxes, identify service providers, analyze email frequency patterns, and execute data deletion requests without requiring manual user intervention for each step
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual process of reading and analyzing emails with automated software that uses algorithms to scan, analyze statistical patterns, identify infrequently received emails, and execute deletion protocols through API integrations with service providers
2Productivity
If automated software scans all emails to identify service providers, then data deletion can be executed efficiently, but API call limits may be exceeded and data retention increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary analysis by scanning emails and identifying service providers and their communication patterns before executing any data deletion requests, allowing it to prepare a deletion strategy in advance that minimizes actual data access and retention during the execution phase
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a selective scanning approach that focuses on identifying unique service providers through statistical analysis of email patterns, performing only the necessary level of scanning to achieve identification without exhaustively processing every email detail, thus balancing productivity with data retention concerns
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus has a network interface circuit providing connectivity to a network with network connected client machines hosting email client modules controlling email inboxes. A processor is connected to the network interface circuit. A memory is connected to the processor. The memory stores instructions executed by the processor to scan the email inboxes to identify statistically infrequently received emails from different network connected service providers. Protocols utilized by the different network connected service providers to accept user data delete requests are identified. The protocols are executed.