Gateway Device Cookie Modification for Cross-Device Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cookie-based tracking methods are limited in linking user devices across multiple browsers and households, and require identity providers or IP address linking, which are unreliable or invasive, failing to create comprehensive user profiles for targeted advertising.
Innovation Solution
A gateway device with a processor intercepts and modifies data packets to include cookies specific to the local network, linking devices within a household by replacing or adding cookies, and maintaining a list of internet domains to ensure accurate tracking without requiring user identity or IP address linking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cookies are used for tracking, then user navigation can be tracked on a particular browser and device, but cookies cannot be used to track a person across several devices or link persons that belong to one family or household
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a local network identifier (such as a gateway device identifier or local IP address) as an intermediary element that links multiple device-specific cookies together. This intermediary allows the system to associate cookies from different devices within the same local network, enabling cross-device tracking without requiring direct linkage between individual device cookies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the tracking system into two levels: device-level tracking using traditional cookies and network-level tracking using local network identifiers. This segmentation allows each cookie to remain device-specific while the network identifier provides the additional layer that connects multiple devices, resolving the contradiction between maintaining device-specific cookies and achieving cross-device tracking.
2Adaptability or versatility
If IP addresses are used to link cookies, then it is possible to create a link between cookies that connect using the same IP address, but with some network architectures a single public IP address is shared by a large network creating error-prone links
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses local network identifiers (such as private IP addresses, gateway device identifiers, or other locally-routable addresses) that are unique within the local network context. These local identifiers provide granular differentiation between devices and networks, replacing the coarse-grained public IP address approach that causes linking errors in shared network environments.
3Adaptability or versatility
If access tokens from identity providers are used, then users can be tracked across several devices, but identity providers cannot easily aggregate multiple identities of a single person or of a family and the user has to have used a specific identity provider
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the local network to self-identify and self-link devices through automatically captured network identifiers embedded in HTTP headers or cookies. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for external identity providers to manage and aggregate identities, as the linking is performed autonomously by the network infrastructure itself based on observable network characteristics.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a gateway device intercepts and modifies data packets to include local network identifiers, then cookies can be linked across household devices, but the gateway device must maintain a list of internet domains and determine device association
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device performs preliminary actions by capturing and storing the mapping between device identifiers and local network identifiers during initial device connections or through passive observation of network traffic. This preliminary data collection enables the gateway to quickly determine device association and apply the appropriate local network identifier to subsequent cookies without requiring complex real-time analysis.
Data Source
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AI summary
In an Internet interface device such as a gateway (130) managing a local network (110), a processor (210) obtains (S310) a packet received from a device (122, 124) via a local network interface (240). The processor can determine (S320) whether or not the packet originates from a device in the local network deemed to be part of a particular group. The processor can also determine (S330) if the packet is addressed to an internet domain for which it stores identifying information in memory (220). In this case, the processor inspects (S340) the packet in search of a cookie. In case no cookie is found, the packet is output as is; if a cookie is found, the processor modifies (S350) cookie information in the packet by inserting a cookie specific to the Internet interface device (130), which results in a modified packet that then is output (S360) through the internet interface. Using the original cookie and the added cookie, it is possible to link cookies sent from different devices in the local network.