Single-Use Data Tag Validation for Crowdsourced Location Services
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data services face challenges in validating the integrity of crowdsourced data, as authentication and encryption methods cannot prevent the introduction of erroneous or malicious data, which can contaminate the data pool and reduce accuracy in location determination services.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system where computing devices are issued a limited quantity of single-use data tags, which are validated by a cloud service before data submission, ensuring that only trusted data is accepted and stored, thereby preventing malicious data from overwhelming the system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If authentication and encryption are used to ensure data integrity, then data security is improved, but malicious data can still be introduced and contaminate the data pool
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation by checking data tags before data is accepted into the pool. Each data submission is accompanied by a tag that is verified against a tag store, preventing malicious data from being incorporated in the first place rather than relying solely on post-hoc detection methods
Solution Approach 2:
Data tags serve as intermediary validation elements between the data source and the data pool. These tags act as a mediator that provides additional verification beyond authentication and encryption, allowing the system to distinguish between legitimate and malicious data submissions
2Quantity of substance
If unlimited crowdsourced data is accepted from any device, then data volume is increased, but data consistency is degraded by malicious submissions
Solution Approach 1:
The system accepts data from multiple devices to maintain sufficient data volume, but applies partial validation through the tag checking mechanism. Not all data requires the same level of verification - the tag system provides a efficient partial check that maintains consistency while allowing high-volume acceptance
Solution Approach 2:
Different validation mechanisms are applied at different stages: authentication and encryption verify device identity, while data tags verify data integrity. This layered approach with different validation qualities at different levels maintains consistency without preventing data volume growth
3Reliability
If data tags are validated by searching in tag store, then data trustworthiness is improved, but processing time is increased
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of complex verification processes, the system uses simple tag copying and comparison. The tag store maintains copies of valid tags, and validation reduces to checking whether the submitted tag exists in the store, which is a fast operation compared to full data verification
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments control submission of crowdsourced data from a computing device to a cloud service. The cloud service receives a packet from the computing device having collected data and a single-use data tag associated therewith. The single-use data tag represents one of a threshold quantity of single-use data tags issued to the computing device. The cloud service validates the single-use data tag in the received packet by, for example, searching for the single-use data tag in a tag store maintained by the cloud service. The collected data from the received packet is stored by the cloud service based on the validation. After validation, the tag store is updated to prevent re-use of the single-use data tag. In some embodiments, the cloud service is a location service receiving crowdsourced beacon fingerprint data from a plurality of mobile computing devices.