Server-Mediated Anonymous Connection System
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing social networking platforms lack efficient mechanisms for facilitating anonymous third-party connections while ensuring user privacy and convenience in establishing connections between individuals for various purposes.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that allows users to select privacy options for their identity when creating connections between two parties, enabling anonymous or public visibility, and facilitates direct communication between the parties without the user's involvement, using a server system to manage profiles, privacy settings, and secure chat features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If users are connected directly on existing social networking platforms, then the connection establishment is simple, but user privacy and anonymity cannot be protected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server system as an intermediary between users to facilitate connections while protecting privacy. The server receives connection requests, manages the connection process, and enables anonymous interactions, thereby protecting user privacy without significantly complicating the connection establishment process from the user perspective.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection establishment process is segmented into distinct phases: initial connection request through the server, anonymous interaction phase, and optional identity reveal phase. This segmentation allows users to control when and how their identity is revealed, enhancing privacy protection while maintaining a relatively simple user interface.
2Reliability
If anonymous connections are enabled, then user privacy is protected, but the ability to validate connections is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The privacy setting is made dynamic rather than static. Users can transition between anonymous and identified states during the connection process. The system supports multiple privacy levels that can be adjusted at different stages, allowing identity information to be revealed selectively when both parties are ready, thus balancing privacy protection with connection validation.
3Ease of operation
If full identity visibility is provided, then connection validation is easy, but user convenience and privacy are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The server performs preliminary actions by pre-establishing anonymous connection channels and managing identity revelation timing. This allows connection validation to occur through the server's intermediary role without requiring users to manually manage complex privacy settings, thereby maintaining ease of operation while protecting user privacy through the backend privacy management system.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for facilitating third party connections is disclosed. A user selection generated from a User Interface (UI) of a user device of at least two parties in an application from a list of a plurality of parties present on the user device is received by a server system to create a connection between the at least two parties by a user. A set of privacy options is facilitated on the UI that includes an anonymous option representing an identity of the user as anonymous and a public option representing the identity of the user as visible to the at least two parties. A privacy option selected from the set of privacy options from the user device is received. Creation of the connection between the at least two parties in the application is facilitated. The connection created at least includes the privacy option selected by the user.