Server-Based Privacy Preference Propagation Across Applications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current online targeted advertising systems require users to repeatedly opt out of targeted advertising due to non-persistent cookie settings or additional login steps, leading to inconvenience and loss of privacy preference settings.
Innovation Solution
A system that propagates user privacy preferences across multiple applications by consolidating user identifications and creating a data stream to maintain consistent privacy settings, even after browser history or cookie clearing, using a computing device with processors and data processing capabilities to correlate user identifications and communicate consolidated privacy preferences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If non-persistent cookies are used to store opt-out settings, then the system implementation is simple, but the user privacy preferences are lost when cookies are cleared
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the browser and the advertising network. The server stores opt-out settings in a database and manages cookie data streams, acting as a mediator that maintains privacy preferences independently of browser cookie persistence. This resolves the contradiction by providing reliable storage through the server while keeping browser implementation relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the storage dimension from local browser cookies to remote server storage. By storing opt-out settings on a server rather than in browser cookies, the system achieves persistent storage that survives browser clearing operations. This dimensional shift from client-side to server-side storage resolves the persistence issue.
2Speed
If user privacy preferences are stored in browser cookies, then access is fast and simple, but the settings are lost when cookies are cleared requiring repeated opt-out actions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by storing opt-out settings on the server in advance and proactively pushing these settings to multiple applications and advertising networks. This preliminary storage and push mechanism ensures that privacy preferences are already in place before needed, eliminating the need for repeated user opt-out actions and reducing time loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the server continuously monitors and pushes updated opt-out settings to relevant applications and advertising networks. This feedback loop ensures that privacy preferences are maintained and propagated across the ecosystem without requiring user re-action, thus reducing time loss from repeated opt-outs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple separate opt-out mechanisms are used for different applications, then each application can maintain its own settings, but the user experience becomes complex requiring multiple login steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal server-based system that handles privacy preferences for multiple applications and advertising networks through a single interface. The server consolidates opt-out management across different applications, providing multi-functional capability that eliminates the need for separate login and opt-out processes for each application, thus simplifying user operation while maintaining application-specific control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple separate opt-out mechanisms into a single unified server-based system. By consolidating the management of privacy preferences across different applications into one centralized system, the user only needs to perform opt-out actions once through the server interface, which then propagates the settings across all connected applications, reducing operational complexity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If user identifications are not consolidated across applications, then each application can operate independently, but user privacy preferences cannot be propagated across applications
Solution Approach 1:
The server acts as an intermediary that receives user identifications from multiple applications, consolidates them, and propagates privacy preferences across the application ecosystem. This intermediary role enables information propagation while maintaining application independence, as each application continues to operate autonomously but shares privacy preference data through the server mediator.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the user identification system into application-specific identifiers that are mapped to a consolidated user profile on the server. This segmentation allows each application to maintain its own identification system independently while the server correlates these identifiers to propagate privacy preferences across applications, preserving both independence and information flow.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for maintaining user privacy preferences based on one or more user identifications across a plurality of applications are provided. Two or more user identifications are received with associated user privacy preferences. The received user identification is compared against other user identifications to determine if the user identifications relate to the same user. It may be determined that two user identifications are related if they have at least one browser property in common. A consolidated data stream of the user privacy preferences for the related user identifications is created. The consolidated data stream is communicated to one or more applications and propagated to maintain the user privacy preferences across the applications relating to the user identification.