Encrypted Geohash Graph Database for Secure Contact Tracing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contact tracing methods face challenges such as privacy concerns, inaccurate identification of contacts, and inability to trace indirect contacts, which hinder effective disease mitigation.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method using an encrypted geohash to determine proximity between clients, storing this data in a graph database, and applying a breath first search algorithm to identify direct and indirect contacts, while protecting user privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If contact tracing data is collected and stored to identify contacts, then contact tracing accuracy is improved, but user privacy is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary contact information (encrypted geohash and timestamp) from the full location data, storing minimal information needed for contact tracing while excluding personal identifiers. This allows accurate contact identification without compromising user privacy by removing unnecessary personal data elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an encrypted geohash as an intermediary representation of location data. Instead of storing actual geographic coordinates or personal location information, the system uses encrypted spatial hashes that preserve contact proximity relationships while preventing decryption to actual locations, thus mediating between contact tracing needs and privacy protection.
2Reliability
If comprehensive contact data is tracked to identify all contacts, then contact identification completeness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical contact tracking systems with a simplified data processing approach using graph databases and breath-first search algorithms. Instead of sophisticated sensor arrays or continuous monitoring systems, the invention uses efficient graph theory-based algorithms to traverse contact networks, reducing system complexity while maintaining comprehensive contact identification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the contact tracing problem into discrete graph components (vertices representing users, edges representing contacts) and processes them through systematic algorithmic steps. The breath-first search algorithm divides the complex task of identifying all indirect contacts into manageable layers of traversal, making the system more tractable and less complex while ensuring completeness.
3Measurement precision
If indirect contacts are traced through multiple levels, then disease spread prediction accuracy is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary construction of the contact graph database during normal operation, organizing all contact data into an optimized graph structure before outbreak analysis is needed. This preliminary organization includes pre-computing adjacency relationships and storing them in an efficient format, so that when disease spread prediction is required, the system can quickly traverse pre-organized data rather than computing relationships from scratch, reducing processing time while maintaining accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
Computer implemented methods, systems, and computer program products include program code executing on a processor(s) that obtains location data from a client (an encrypted and a timestamp comprising). The processor(s) stores, in a graphing database, a vertex representing the user in a graph. The processor(s) determines, based on comparing the encrypted geohash and the timestamp of the vertex to values in one or more vertices in the graph, that at least one additional user intersected with the user in physical space proximate to a given time. The processor(s) generates or updates, between the vertex of the user and the at least one vertex representing the at least one additional user, an edge in the graph to represents a direct contact between. The processor(s) applies, to the graph, a breath first search algorithm to the graph to identify one or more indirect contacts between users.