Pseudolocation Identifiers for Privacy-Preserving Location Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing location tracking technologies expose users' personally identifiable information (PII), compromising privacy, as precise location data can reveal sensitive information such as home and work addresses.
Innovation Solution
Obfuscate PII-revealing Points of Interest (POIs) by generating pseudolocation identifiers that convey semantic meaning without revealing geographic location, allowing anonymized location event sequences to be analyzed without disclosing user identity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If precise location data is collected and exposed to the network, then the value and informativeness of the data for commercial and analytical purposes is improved, but user privacy is compromised and personally identifiable information is revealed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces pseudolocation identifiers as an intermediary between the user's actual location and the third-party analytics system. These pseudolocations convey semantic meaning about location patterns without revealing precise geographic coordinates, thereby mediating between data utility and privacy protection
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes personally identifiable location information from the location event sequences before sharing with third parties. By separating the identifying geographic coordinates from the behavioral patterns, the system retains analytical value while eliminating privacy risks
2Object-affected harmful factors
If pseudolocation obfuscation is applied to PII-revealing POIs, then user privacy is preserved and geographic location is protected, but the precision and exactness of location information is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different levels of obfuscation to different points of interest based on their privacy sensitivity. Frequently visited locations like home and work receive pseudolocation obfuscation, while less sensitive locations maintain their precision, creating local variations in data quality that balance privacy and utility
3Adaptability or versatility
If anonymized location sequences are output to third parties, then behavioral analysis capability is enabled without divulging user identity, but the ability to trace exact geographic patterns is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms location data from precise geographic coordinates to pseudolocation identifiers that encode behavioral patterns. This parameter change from spatial precision to temporal-pattern representation enables third-party analytics on user behavior while preventing geographic tracing
Data Source
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AI summary
A method, an apparatus and a computer program for tracking location of users without disclosing Personally Identifiable Information (PII). The method comprises analyzing sequences of location events of a user over time to determine a Point Of Interest (POI) of the user. In response to determining that the POI is PII-revealing POI; obfuscating the POI, by generating a pseudo location identifier of the POI indicative of a semantic meaning thereof to the user without revealing a geographic location of the POI. The method further comprises generating an anonymized sequence of location events of the user based on the sequence of location events, that comprises the pseudo location identifier to represent location events associated with the POI, and absent of the geographic location thereof. The anonymized sequence of location events may be provided a third party to analyze behavior of the user without divulging identity of the user.