Private Link Attribution Using Contact Image Mediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies fail to efficiently manage privacy in the attribution of links between electronic devices, and the existing solutions are inefficient and/or inefficient for other applications, widgets, or processes at an electronic device to have access to identifying information of the contact that provided the link.
Innovation Solution
The system process generates an identifier (link ID) free of identifying information for the contact and an image including identifying information of the contact, which is then provided to the application without exposing the contact's identity to the application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the application receives identifying information of the contact that provided the link, then the application can provide accurate attribution information to the user, but the contact's privacy is compromised and the contact's identifying information is exposed to the application
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the contact information into two separate components: an identifier (link ID) that is free of identifying information and an image that contains the identifying information. The identifier is provided to the application for attribution purposes, while the image with identifying information is kept separate and not provided to the application, thus resolving the contradiction between needing accurate attribution and protecting contact privacy
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary system process that acts as a mediator between the contact's identifying information and the application. This system process generates the identifier from the link received by the first application, and provides this identifier to the second application without exposing the contact's identifying information to the application, thus enabling attribution while protecting privacy
2Loss of information
If the application has access to contact identifying information, then the application can attribute the link to the correct contact, but the device complexity increases due to the need to manage and protect identifying information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the identifying information from the link data and separates it into a distinct image component. The identifier is extracted to be free of identifying information, while the image containing identifying information is extracted separately. This extraction simplifies the data structure and reduces the complexity of managing privacy-sensitive information
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the link data in the form of an identifier that preserves the attribution functionality without the harmful identifying information. This copy allows the application to attribute links accurately while avoiding the complexity of managing and protecting the original identifying information
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.