ISP Intermediary for Privacy-Preserving Subscriber Data Sharing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The use of persistent cookies for tracking user browsing history raises privacy concerns and disrupts the browsing experience, as users are not aware of their storage and accumulation, leading to backlash and regulatory measures that hinder content customization and rich internet services.
Innovation Solution
A system where an Internet service provider acts as an intermediary, maintaining subscriber profiles that replace cookies, allowing trusted Internet content providers to access necessary data while protecting sensitive information from untrusted providers, thereby enhancing user privacy and performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If persistent cookies are used to track user browsing history and maintain stateful information, then content customization and rich internet services are improved, but user privacy is compromised and browsing experience is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a trusted intermediary system (the service provider's network element) that sits between the user device and Internet content providers. This intermediary maintains subscriber profiles with stateful information and selectively shares data with trusted content providers, enabling content customization while protecting user privacy by preventing direct access to sensitive information.
2Ease of operation
If cookies are stored on user computing devices to remember stateful information, then user convenience is improved, but users are unaware of data accumulation leading to backlash and regulatory measures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cookie storage function from the user's computing device and relocates it to the service provider's network element. Subscriber profiles are maintained on the provider's network rather than on user devices, eliminating the need for local cookie storage while preserving stateful information capabilities.
3Adaptability or versatility
If all subscriber data is shared with Internet content providers, then content personalization is improved, but data storage risks and security concerns increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing selective data sharing where different subsets of subscriber data are shared with different Internet content providers based on trust relationships and specific service requirements. Not all data is shared with all providers, but rather specific data subsets are shared with specific trusted providers, enabling personalization while minimizing security risks.
Data Source
AI summary
A method includes receiving a request from an internet content provider to provide data about a subscriber associated with an IP address, where the data allows the internet content provider to maintain stateful and persistent information about an HTTP session with a user endpoint device associated with the IP address determining whether the Internet content provider is a trusted Internet content provider pre-authorized to receive at least some of the data about the subscriber, determining a subset of the data about the subscriber that is allowed to be shared with the Internet content provider, when the Internet content provider is determined to be a trusted Internet content provider, providing the subset of the data to the Internet content provider, when the subset of the data is determined, and denying the request to provide the data, when the Internet content provider is determined not to be a trusted Internet content provider.