Persona Segmentation for Online Identity Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face challenges in managing multiple online identities for social interactions, as switching between identities to reveal varying levels of personal information can be burdensome and difficult, especially for those with limited technical knowledge, and poses risks such as stalking, identity theft, and harassment when real identities are disclosed.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for generating personas for a user account, including an account engine, communication engine, persona engine, authority engine, and user interface engine, which allows users to create and manage personas with different visibility levels, permissions, and sharing options, enabling the use of alter egos and anonymous identities to control how personal information is shared.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users create multiple primary accounts to avoid identity disclosure risks, then privacy and security are improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate due to managing multiple names and passwords
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments a single user account into multiple personas, each representing a different identity or role. Users can create persona1, persona2, etc., within one account structure, allowing separation of different social identities without requiring separate account management. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining security through account structure while simplifying operation through unified access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes a single user account universal by enabling it to serve multiple functions and identities through personas. One account can host multiple personas that can be switched between, allowing the account to function as different identities in different contexts. This eliminates the need for multiple separate accounts while maintaining the ability to control identity disclosure.
2Reliability
If users switch between multiple primary accounts to reveal varying levels of personal information, then privacy control is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in remembering which account was used
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic persona switching within a single account. Users can dynamically switch between persona1, persona2, and other personas as needed for different interactions. This dynamic switching capability provides privacy control when needed while maintaining operational simplicity, as users don't need to remember multiple account credentials—only switch between personas within one account.
Solution Approach 2:
The persona system acts as an intermediary layer between the user's real identity and online interactions. Instead of directly managing multiple accounts, users interact with personas that mediate the disclosure of personal information. This intermediary structure simplifies operation by providing a unified account interface while maintaining privacy control through selective persona usage.
3Ease of operation
If users post their real identities online for more comfortable social interactions, then social comfort and trust are improved, but vulnerability to stalking, identity theft and harassment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the user's identity into multiple personas, allowing separation between real identity and online interaction identities. Users can post and interact using persona1 or persona2 without exposing their real identity, thereby maintaining social comfort and trust while reducing vulnerability to harmful factors like stalking and harassment.
Solution Approach 2:
Personas serve as intermediaries that enable comfortable social interactions without directly exposing the user's real identity. The persona system mediates between the need for identity disclosure for social trust and the need for protection from harm, allowing users to build social comfort through consistent persona usage while maintaining safety by keeping real identity separate.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for generating a plurality of personas for an account of a user is disclosed. The present invention uses an account engine to receive information for the plurality of personas and to associate the information for the plurality of personas to the account. The information for each of the plurality of personas includes a visibility level. A persona engine receives a selection from the user and transmits the selected persona to the user based on the selection. An authority engine determines an appearance of the selected persona based on the visibility level.