Privacy Preserving Name Verification via Trusted Third Party

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Solution Overview

Problem

Web-based applications face challenges in verifying user identity while preserving user privacy, as users are reluctant to share personal information, limiting the system's ability to authenticate users and maintain credibility.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that receive encrypted private data from a client device, re-encrypt it using a trusted entity's public key, and verify the user's identity without logging personal information, using a secure database to store validation and associate actions with the user, while providing a PIN for secure channel creation and utilizing endorsements for identity verification.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the system requests personal information from users for verification, then user identity verification reliability is improved, but user privacy is compromised and user participation is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser identity verification reliabilityVSAvoiduser privacy violation

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a trusted third party (verification service) as an intermediary that performs identity verification without accessing user's private data. The service provider receives encrypted data, verifies identity using the trusted third party's credentials, and returns verification results without logging or storing personal information, thus resolving the contradiction between verification reliability and privacy protection

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces traditional mechanical verification mechanisms (direct data collection and storage) with cryptographic mechanisms (encryption, public key infrastructure). Users provide encrypted personal data that cannot be decrypted by the service provider, and the trusted third party uses cryptographic verification to confirm identity without accessing the encrypted data, substituting direct data access with cryptographic proof

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Reliability

If the system stores personal information for verification purposes, then user identity verification is improved, but data security risks increase and user trust decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser identity verificationVSAvoiddata security risk

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and removes personal information from the service provider's system entirely. The verification service only stores non-personal verification results and encrypted data that cannot be decrypted by the service provider. Personal information is taken out of the system and verified through the trusted third party, eliminating the security risks associated with storing sensitive user data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses temporary encrypted data structures that are discarded after verification. The encrypted personal data is processed and then deleted, with only verification results retained. This disposable approach to data handling minimizes security risks by ensuring personal information does not persist in the system

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

3Measurement precision

If users provide detailed personal information for verification, then verification accuracy is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to complex verification processes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveverification accuracyVSAvoidverification process simplicity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements self-service verification where users independently provide their own personal information and encryption credentials without requiring manual intervention from the service provider. Users initiate verification, provide encrypted data, and receive automated verification results, making the process simple and autonomous while maintaining high accuracy through cryptographic verification

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS8347093B1Privacy preserving name verification

Publication Date: 2013.01.01 GOOGLE LLC

AI summary

Aspects of the invention pertain to preserving the privacy of users in on-line systems while also enabling verification that the users are who they purport to be. Confidential personal information may be communicated from a user to a trusted third party via a web-based application or other service. However, the personal information is encrypted so that the application or service is unable to access it. The trusted third party accesses the personal information and uses it to verify that a user ID such as an email address is associated with a particular user. This information is provided to the web-based application or service to certify the identity of the user. As a result, the application or server verifies to other users that the certified user is who he/she purports to be.