Privacy-Protecting Relay Assignment Without VPN Latency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing VPN services require tunneling all traffic to a central point, risking user data exposure and causing performance issues due to hidden location, leading to slower access and latency problems for services like video conferencing and gaming.
Innovation Solution
Implementing privacy-protecting proxies/relays within a service provider network to obfuscate user IP and location information, allowing selective use based on proximity and trust, ensuring high-level geographic location sharing for effective content localization without performance penalties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If VPN tunneling is used to protect user privacy, then user IP address and location information are protected, but traffic must be routed to a central point which increases latency and reduces access speed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces privacy-protecting proxies as intermediary devices within the service provider network that can selectively obfuscate user information. These proxies act as mediators between the user and external services, providing privacy protection only when needed rather than forcing all traffic through a central VPN endpoint, thus reducing latency while maintaining privacy when required.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements selective privacy protection where different data flows from the same computing device can have different privacy treatment. The network device determines whether to apply proxy protection based on the specific service or data flow, allowing location-aware services to receive accurate location information while other services benefit from privacy protection, optimizing both speed and privacy on a per-service basis.
2Reliability
If VPN is used to hide user location, then privacy is protected, but content localization breaks causing slower access times and increased latency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies privacy protection partially rather than universally. The network device selectively applies proxy protection to specific data flows based on whether they require location information. This partial application of privacy protection maintains fast content localization for services that need location data while providing privacy protection for services that don't require accurate location information.
3Reliability
If all traffic is tunneled through a central VPN point, then privacy is protected, but the VPN provider can observe and potentially monetize user data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the network architecture by distributing multiple privacy-protecting proxies throughout the service provider network rather than relying on a single central VPN endpoint. This segmentation prevents any single point from observing all user traffic, reducing the risk of data exposure and monetization while maintaining privacy protection.
4Reliability
If proxies are used to protect privacy, then user information is obfuscated, but services requiring location information may not function properly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic proxy assignment where the network device determines in real-time whether to apply proxy protection to each data flow based on the service requirements. This dynamic approach allows the system to adapt to different service needs, providing privacy protection when appropriate while ensuring location-aware services receive accurate location information to function properly.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems are disclosed for discovery and assignment of privacy-protecting proxies/relays in a network. A gateway device located at premise may select a privacy-protecting proxy, of one or more privacy protecting proxies available via a network device located external to the premise, for association with a user device at the premise. The selection may be based on one or more selection criteria. The gateway device may send data associated with the user device via the selected privacy-protecting proxy. The gateway device may send the data based on associating the selected privacy-protecting proxy with the user device.