Reader App Personalized Feed Privacy

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing reader aggregators lack advanced analysis and customization capabilities, relying on users to manually check for new content, and often share user interaction data, compromising privacy.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that determine a reader type on a device based on user interaction parameters, allowing for personalized article feeds without sharing usage information, using a rule set to request articles from a device server, maintaining user privacy and enhancing content relevance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If reader aggregators constantly monitor websites for new content and download all new articles, then users receive comprehensive content updates, but device resources are drained and user time is consumed

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent update deliveryVSAvoiddevice resource consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs partial action by downloading only article metadata (title, link, publication date) instead of complete articles. Full articles are downloaded only when users explicitly request them, reducing unnecessary data transfer and device resource consumption while maintaining content update delivery

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-downloading and caching article metadata to local storage. This allows the reader application to quickly display available articles without real-time network monitoring, reducing device energy consumption while maintaining productivity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If reader aggregators collect and analyze user interaction data, then personalized content recommendations can be provided, but user privacy is compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent personalizationVSAvoidprivacy loss
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only essential, anonymized interaction data (article reads, time spent reading, search queries) from user behavior, separating this minimal necessary data from personal identifying information. This extracted data is used for personalization while maintaining privacy by not collecting or transmitting full user profiles

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system introduces an intermediary layer of anonymization and aggregation between user interaction data and the recommendation algorithm. User-specific data is transformed into aggregated, anonymized metrics that enable personalization without exposing individual user privacy

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Object-affected harmful factors

If users manually access websites to check for new content, then user privacy is maintained, but user time is wasted and user experience is degraded

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoidtime for content checking
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-affected harmful factorsVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements self-service by automatically monitoring for new content and managing article downloads in the background without requiring user intervention. Users simply open the application to see updated articles, eliminating manual checking time while the system maintains privacy through selective data collection

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3283979B1Reader application with a personalized feed and method of providing recommendations while maintaining user privacy
Publication Date: 2021.03.24 APPLE INC
  • EP3283979B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3283979B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3283979B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Aspects of the present disclosure Involve a mobile or computer reader application that obtains articles or other computer files from a central database and displays the articles to a user of the device. The reader application may be customizable around one or more characteristics of the user of the device. In one embodiment, the type and number of articles provided to the device and displayed in the reader application may be based on the determination of a category or type of usage of the application is performed by the user. Further, the determination of the use of the reader application on the device is performed by and contained within the device such that usage information is not shared with overall article providing system, in another embodiment, the article providing system and/or device may determine recommendations to provide to a user of the reading application. These recommendations may be based on one or more selected interests or topics of the user of the reading application.