Privacy-Preserving Link Attribution Without Contact Identity Exposure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic devices face challenges in providing privacy-preserving attribution for network data, particularly when sharing links or content recommended by contacts, as exposing identifying information of the contact can be undesirable and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
The system generates a link identifier free of identifying information and creates an image with contact details, allowing the attribution to be included in user interfaces without revealing the contact's identity to other applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If identifying information of the contact is exposed in the user interface to enable attribution, then content recommendation effectiveness is improved, but user privacy is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the identifying information from the contact's actual identity and creates a separate attribution indicator that references the contact without exposing their identity. The system separates the attribution function from the identifying information, allowing content recommendations to display attribution status while keeping the contact's identity confidential.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary attribution indicator (such as an icon or anonymized reference) that mediates between the need for content recommendation effectiveness and user privacy protection. This intermediary element conveys attribution information without directly exposing the contact's identifying information, serving as a buffer between the two conflicting requirements.
2Measurement precision
If contact identifying information is shared across applications for attribution, then attribution accuracy is improved, but information security is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the attribution information into two distinct parts: an anonymized identifier that can be safely shared across applications for accurate attribution, and the actual identifying information that remains protected. This segmentation allows the system to achieve attribution accuracy without compromising information security by only sharing the necessary minimal information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality levels to different parts of the attribution system: anonymized identifiers have the quality of shareability and accuracy, while the actual contact information maintains the quality of confidentiality and security. Each part is treated with the appropriate level of exposure based on its specific function and sensitivity.
Data Source
AI summary
The subject disclosure provides systems and methods for providing privacy-preserving social attribution for electronic devices. For example, when information is received from a contact of a user at the user's electronic device, various applications at the electronic device may later display the received information. It can be desirable to attribute the displayed information received from the contact to that contact, without exposing identifying information of the contact to the displaying application. Aspects of the subject technology include a system process that generates an image including contact information, that can be rendered in a user interface of an application, without providing the image or the contact information to the application.