Cooperative Synthetic Identity Manager for Privacy Protection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing methods for analyzing patterns of behavior and social relationships across organizations often expose personally identifiable information, posing a threat to privacy and requiring consistent data masking across datasets to preserve identity relationships.

Innovation Solution

The creation of cooperative synthetic identities allows for the sharing of data without personally identifiable information, using synthetic identities that are consistent across organizations and can be associated with specific cases, expiring when necessary, while maintaining analytical benefits and protecting individual privacy.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If data is shared across organizations for behavioral analysis, then analytical capabilities are improved, but personally identifiable information is exposed, compromising privacy

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveanalytical capabilitiesVSAvoidprivacy exposure

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates synthetic copies of identity data that replicate the statistical and relational properties of real identities without containing actual personally identifiable information. These synthetic identities can be shared across organizations for analysis while protecting privacy, as they are artificial constructs rather than real data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The synthetic identity acts as an intermediary between real identities and analytical processes. Instead of sharing real PII directly, the system uses synthetic identities as a medium that preserves analytical utility while eliminating privacy risks associated with direct data sharing

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If data masking is applied to protect privacy, then privacy protection is improved, but consistency of identity relationships across datasets is lost

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoididentity relationship consistency

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies uniform masking rules across all datasets that generate consistent synthetic identities. By using the same transformation logic throughout the system, synthetic identities maintain consistent relationships with each other across different datasets, preserving the ability to analyze social graphs and behavioral patterns while protecting privacy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #33Homogeneity

3Object-affected harmful factors

If synthetic identities are created for each request, then privacy protection is improved, but system complexity and processing time increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprivacy protectionVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent pre-generates synthetic identities and stores them in a repository before they are needed for analysis. When analytical requests are made, the system retrieves pre-created synthetic identities rather than generating them in real-time, significantly reducing processing time and computational complexity while maintaining privacy protection

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a universal repository of synthetic identities that can serve multiple analytical requests and different organizations. A single synthetic identity can be reused across multiple queries and datasets, reducing the overall number of synthetic identities needed and simplifying system architecture

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS10460129B2System and method for managing cooperative synthetic identities for privacy protection through identity obfuscation and synthesis

Publication Date: 2019.10.29 CA TECH INC

AI summary

According to one embodiment of the disclosure, a method includes receiving, from a first requestor, a request to create a cooperative synthetic identity case for an original identity. The method includes determining whether a cooperative synthetic identity case has already been created for the original identity. The method also includes generating a case identifier that uniquely identifies the cooperative synthetic identity case. The method further includes associating the case identifier with an expiration period. The method also includes storing the cooperative synthetic identity case, the case identifier, and the expiration period to a memory. The method also includes sending the case identifier to the first requestor.