[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/

US20110161422A1 - Method and system for sharing anonymous user information - Google Patents

Method and system for sharing anonymous user information Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20110161422A1
US20110161422A1 US13/041,634 US201113041634A US2011161422A1 US 20110161422 A1 US20110161422 A1 US 20110161422A1 US 201113041634 A US201113041634 A US 201113041634A US 2011161422 A1 US2011161422 A1 US 2011161422A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
data
user
information
tsid
address
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US13/041,634
Inventor
Brad H. Bender
Garrett J. Cronin
John A. Lloyd
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Google LLC
Original Assignee
Google LLC
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Google LLC filed Critical Google LLC
Priority to US13/041,634 priority Critical patent/US20110161422A1/en
Assigned to DOUBLECLICK INC. reassignment DOUBLECLICK INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: LLOYD, JOHN A., BENDER, BRAD H., CRONIN, GARRETT J.
Assigned to GOOGLE INC. reassignment GOOGLE INC. MERGER (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CLICK HOLDING CORP., CLICK SUBCO CORP., DOUBLECLICK INC.
Publication of US20110161422A1 publication Critical patent/US20110161422A1/en
Assigned to GOOGLE LLC reassignment GOOGLE LLC CHANGE OF NAME (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: GOOGLE INC.
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
    • G06F21/60—Protecting data
    • G06F21/62—Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
    • G06F21/6218—Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
    • G06F21/6245—Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
    • G06F21/6254—Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
    • G06Q20/382—Payment protocols; Details thereof insuring higher security of transaction
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
    • G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
    • G06Q20/383—Anonymous user system

Definitions

  • the invention relates to sharing online user information in an anonymous manner.
  • a cookie is a piece of text generated and stored by a Web browser on behalf of a Web server. Each time the browser makes an HTTP request from the server, the cookie is sent back to the server. In this manner it becomes possible for a Web server to present customized pages to a given Web browser.
  • Cookie matching occurs when Web server (e.g., a merchant Web site) has the ability to read a cookie previously placed by another Web server (e.g., an online advertiser).
  • Web server e.g., a merchant Web site
  • another Web server e.g., an online advertiser
  • DigitalCamera.com which, for the purposes of this specification, may represent a merchant Web site that deals in digital cameras.
  • DigitalCamera.com maintains a revolving product image on the Electronics.com homepage.
  • the associated Electronics.com cookie id could be passed to DigitalCamera.com. This would enable DigitalCamera.com to credit Electronics.com for the customer referral without Electronics.com needing to know the personally identifiable information (“PII”) of the customer that it ‘passed through’ to DigitalCamera.com.
  • PII personally identifiable information
  • DigitalCamera.com has identifiers for both its own proprietary cookie and Electronics.com's cookie. If, in a separate database transfer, Electronics.com sends DigitalCamera.com its online information about the user (e.g., that the user is actively interested in TVs and VCRs), referenced only by Electronics.com's cookie id (and not by PII about the user, such as name and address), DigitalCamera.com is then able to match the identifiers and build an information profile on that user. However, if the Web sites cannot be trusted, it would be possible to send the PII from DigitalCamera.com back to Electronics.com, and make the previously anonymous web activity personally identifiable.
  • the present invention is directed to a method and system for anonymously sharing information relating to a user.
  • the invention associates an identifier with “anonymized” information of the user, and sends the anonymized user information to a receiving party (“RP”).
  • RP receiving party
  • the system may collect user data from any data source (whether online or offline) and anonymize the data before delivering it to a third party (e.g., a receiving party).
  • the user data from the data source may already be anonymized.
  • This user information (e.g., transactional, demographic, and/or behavioral) may be delivered to a receiving party without being linked or coupled to PII about the user.
  • the information collection process is a unidirectional process as the anonymized data may not be used or collated in any matter to determine (e.g., triangulate) the PII information.
  • the method and system of the present invention may allow a receiving party to collect both user demographic and transactional data, for example, while still protecting the anonymity of users (e.g., consumers).
  • This data collection technique enables the receiving party to employ a deeper data set to heighten the predictive potential of its database—as well as create new, and enhance existing, product offerings.
  • no single party holds enough of the data pieces to determine (e.g., via reverse engineering using a receiving party cookie) the personally identifiable information of an actual user.
  • Further advantages of the present invention may include the following: 1) advertisers may be served by having a deeper data set to target against; 2) publishers may benefit by receiving increased ad rates for their more highly targeted inventory while maintaining online user/consumer privacy; 3) merchants may benefit by having additional data in a data table maintained by the receiving party which enhances product and service solutions for the merchant that are delivered by the receiving party. Additionally, advertisers may use the data collected to create products that will intelligently target advertisements to users by utilizing anonymous online behavioral and intent data. This application may also include anonymously coupling of demographic and transactional data with pre-existing behavioral and intent data to provide a robust data set by which to predict future online behavior, and it also simultaneously protects the anonymity of an advertiser's consumer base. Anonymity of the users may be achieved by grouping like users into clusters, or buckets, along with thousands of other like users.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram that depicts sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram that depicts an anonymizer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram that depicts sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram that depicts anonymously sharing online user information though a merchant site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information though a merchant site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram that depicts anonymously sharing online user information though a publisher site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 9 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information though a publisher site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 is a block diagram that depicts a data collection system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 provides an exemplary overview of the present invention, with FIG. 2 illustrating the accompanying process.
  • Anonymizer 110 receives identifier 100 as input (step 210 ).
  • Identifier 100 may include a user identifier (e.g., PII), a Web browser identifier (e.g., a cookie), or any other identifier.
  • the PII information may include a user's name, address, telephone number, social security number, email address, or other information that may personally identify the user.
  • the cookie is a piece of text that enables a given Web server to identify a given Web browser on subsequent requests to the server (e.g. visits to a Web site and/or page).
  • Anonymizer 110 associates identifier 100 with anonymized information of the user (step 220 ).
  • Non-anonymized user information may include transactional (“trans”), demographic (“demo”), and behavioral information and may be used by advertisers, publishers, and merchants for various applications.
  • An advertiser may refer to any entity that promotes or sells products, services, information, or other items.
  • a publisher may refer to any entity hosting, owning, or controlling a site (e.g., online/Internet Web site) accessible to a user of a communications network.
  • a merchant may refer to any entity that accepts, collects, or transfers user registration information, a common example being the in the course of selling or promoting a product, service, or information to a user.
  • Anonymized information refers to anonymous user information or non-PII that cannot be used to uniquely identify a particular user.
  • user information may be “bucketed” to make it non-personal where unique personal information (e.g., state of residence) is broadened or expanded into a more general category (e.g., geographic region of country).
  • anonymizer 110 Once anonymizer 110 has associated identifier 100 with anonymized information of the user, anonymizer 110 sends the anonymized user information to receiving party 130 .
  • Uses of the collected anonymized data by receiving party 130 may include profile delivery, advertisement delivery, data reporting, and other uses.
  • FIG. 3 depicts an anonymizer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Anonymizer 110 may be a Web server, personal computer or any other type of microprocessor-based device.
  • Anonymizer 110 may include a processor 310 , input device 320 , output device 330 , storage device 340 , software 350 , and communication device 360 .
  • Input device 320 may include a keyboard, mouse, pen-operated touch screen, voice-recognition device, or any other device that provides input from a user.
  • Output device 330 may include a monitor, printer, disk drive, speakers, or any other device that provides tangible output to user.
  • Storage device 340 may include volatile and nonvolatile data storage. Volatile data storage includes RAM, a cache, or any storage medium that temporarily holds data while being processed; nonvolatile data storage includes a hard drive, CD-ROM drive, tape drive, removable storage disk, or any other non-temporary storage medium.
  • Communication device 360 may include a modem, network interface card, or any other device capable of transmitting and receiving signals over a network.
  • Software 350 may be executed by processor 310 and may include an “anonymization engine,” which receives identifier 100 via input from input device 320 , associates identifier 100 with anonymized information of the user, and sends the anonymized user information to receiving party 130 via output device 330 .
  • anonymization engine which receives identifier 100 via input from input device 320 , associates identifier 100 with anonymized information of the user, and sends the anonymized user information to receiving party 130 via output device 330 .
  • FIG. 4 depicts sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 5 illustrating the accompanying process.
  • receiving party 130 obtains anonymized user information 120 from anonymizer 110 , which has a non-anonymous relationship with user 400 .
  • Anonymizer 110 receives PII disclosed by user 400 (step 510 ). Anonymizer 110 associates this PII information with a temporary identifier and passes the temporary identifier to user 400 (step 520 ). During the course of exemplary communications (e.g., Web browsing on the Internet), user 400 may interact anonymously with receiving party 130 and pass the temporary identifier to receiving party 130 during the course of the interactive communications (step 530 ).
  • exemplary communications e.g., Web browsing on the Internet
  • Receiving party 130 having an anonymous relationship with user 400 , may request non-PII anonymized user information 120 from anonymizer 110 using the temporary identifier (step 540 ).
  • anonymizer 110 sends anonymized user information 120 to receiving party 130 based on the temporary identifier (step 550 ) and then deletes the temporary identifier associated with user 400 .
  • receiving party 130 is able to collect the anonymized user information using the temporary identifier, but receiving party 130 (or any other party) is prevented from ascertaining or requesting associated PII of user 400 from anonymizer 110 based on the temporary identifier since the temporary identifier has been deleted by anonymizer 110 . Even if the temporary identifier had not been deleted, user 400 's PII could still not be ascertained since it has been anonymized.
  • Another useful result of this process is that user 400 is efficiently utilized as a transparent intermediary (independent of any user selection) for facilitating transfer of anonymized user information to receiving party 130 .
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the anonymous collection process for an exemplary embodiment featuring a provider of goods and/or services over an interactive communications network (e.g., an online merchant on the Internet), with FIG. 7 illustrating the accompanying process.
  • secure connections for all point-to-point communications within the system. These may include connections between PII database 605 and data company 620 , between data company 620 and service bureau 640 (which acts as anonymizer 110 in this embodiment, operating the anonymizer engine), and between service bureau 640 and receiving party 130 .
  • These secure connections may be implemented using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection.
  • SSL Secure Socket Layer
  • the dotted line borders in the figures do not necessarily reflect an entity division (such as different domains), but a division of system duties which would enable the maximum levels of scaleability for the system.
  • PII database 605 may include user information. Examples of PII databases would be those used by companies that maintain customer information alongside of purchase history. This user information may include personal user information (e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.) along with transactional, demographic, behavioral, and/or other information coupled to the user name and address.
  • personal user information e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.
  • transactional and demographic data are used as the exemplary data that may be coupled to a user's personal information
  • a user's name and address is used as the exemplary personal user information contained in PII database 605 . It is noted that the use of transactional and demographic data and a user's name and address is strictly exemplary (see table 610 in FIG. 6 ) and other forms of data and other personal information may be used in connection with the present inventive method and system.
  • Step 705 is performed by a provider of PII database 605 , and may be performed independent of user 600 's engagement in an active session with merchant site 625 (e.g., offline).
  • this user information is bucketed, or clustered, into an anonymous grouping to prevent triangulation, and the transactional data is encrypted to ensure that other parties are unable to access the data.
  • the user information may include demographic information identifying user 600 as an Australian with two children living in New York. During the bucketing process, this demographic information may be anonymized as a foreigner with more than one child living in the Northeast section of the United States.
  • the transactional data may similarly be bucketed prior its encryption. Thus, for example, a transaction showing a purchase of a J.
  • An exemplary output from step 705 would be an output file including the following:
  • This exemplary code provides the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data string for user 600 (see table 615 in FIG. 6 ).
  • step 710 The parts of step 710 are performed by the provider of PII database 605 and data company 620 , and may be performed independent of user 600 's engagement in an active session with merchant site 625 (e.g., offline).
  • the provider of PII database 605 sends the user information including the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data to data company 620 .
  • Data company 620 may already have stored the name, address, and demographic information for user 600 in its database.
  • data company 620 Upon receiving the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction data, data company 620 matches the received name and address to the user name and address already stored and appends the encrypted transaction data and the anonymized demographic information to the stored user name and address. Additionally during this step, data company 620 could optionally validate the name and address information received from PII database 605 .
  • Step 715 may be performed by user 600 at merchant site 625 .
  • user 600 may commence an active session by visiting (via a browser) online merchant site 625 and disclosing personal information, via an online registration form, login process, or any other request for personal information process, to merchant site 625 .
  • the personal information includes the user name and address.
  • Merchant site 625 discloses to user 600 its privacy policy including that user name and address information may be passed to a data company for the process of address verification and profile development.
  • merchant site 625 may enable user 600 to opt-out from receiving any targeted information (e.g., banner advertising) as a result of user 600 's disclosure.
  • the opting-out may be performed, for example, by using a point-and-click application (e.g., link to receiving party 130 ).
  • Step 720 is performed by merchant site 625 .
  • merchant site 625 may create an HTML tag and dynamically generate a temporary session id (“TSID”), associated with user 600 , which is sent over to receiving party 130 's server as a request for a 1 ⁇ 1 pixel.
  • the request for the 1 ⁇ 1 pixel is an image request from merchant site 625 .
  • the image request allows receiving party 130 to deliver an image to merchant site 625 and collect information from merchant site 625 , such as the TSID, and a receiving party cookie if found from user 600 's browser.
  • the TSID is used by receiving party 130 to create table 630 matching the TSID to the receiving party cookie (a data identifier).
  • Receiving party 130 takes the tag sent by merchant site 625 , an exemplary tag including the following:
  • An exemplary “Merchant TSID” may simply be a unique 6-digit source id for merchant site 625 appended to the unique TSID.
  • the TSID may last as long as user 600 remains at merchant site 625 , after which time it may expire.
  • the TSID could optionally be set to expire automatically after a period of time (either predetermined or calculated from other factors).
  • the TSID could be generated at the browser level through a Web server call, utilizing javascript or any other client-side code.
  • Steps 725 - 750 may be performed consecutively in real-time.
  • one may limit the time for which data (e.g., user 600 's TSID) may be retained.
  • user 600 's TSID may be stored as a session variable in RAM only on merchant site 625 's Web server, and may be temporary and non-recoverable, with such storage lasting only as long as the TSID remains active.
  • the TSID may be removed from temporary storage.
  • it may be enforced as a data processing rule that the association between TSID and Name and Address is never written to disk.
  • step 730 merchant site 625 feeds the name and address information (which serves as identifier 100 ) in merchant customer database 635 to an anonymizer engine operated by service bureau 640 to verify or validate the name and address information input by user 600 .
  • Merchant site 625 would, for example, pass:
  • SSL Secure Sockets Layer
  • merchant site 625 now continues with its interaction with user 600 for the rest of the session—after which point the RAM TSID is destroyed. Also, the TSID may be destroyed in response to other indicating factors including, but not limited to a timer. Additionally, for new user registrations, merchant site 625 may optionally store user 600 's inputted information to merchant database 635 (e.g., name, address, and transactional data).
  • merchant database 635 e.g., name, address, and transactional data
  • service bureau 640 operator of the anonymizer engine, sends a request over to data company 620 for information corresponding to the user name and address.
  • data company 620 replies to the validation request received from service bureau 640 .
  • Data company 620 verifies the name and address information received and passes back the corrected address details, anonymized demographic data, and encrypted transactional data corresponding to user 600 to service bureau 640 .
  • An exemplary feed from data company 620 may include the following:
  • Any corrections may be fed back to the merchant site (see step 745 ).
  • One may employ secure connections for communication between data company 620 and service bureau 640 , operator of the anonymizer engine. Possible exemplary scenarios include these cases:
  • step 745 which may be performed on a periodic schedule, the anonymizer engine run by service bureau 640 would pass back the corrected name and address to merchant site 625 . For example, only changes/corrections would be passed back to merchant site 625 and would be performed at an encrypted file and/or message level. Additionally, data company 620 may optionally pass back other user information. The following shows the exemplary scenarios and resulting messages that may occur:
  • step 750 merchant site 625 's TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data from data company 620 are stored in a transactional profile database 645 by service bureau 640 .
  • the profile would look like this (see table 650 in FIG. 6 ):
  • the database may contain a table of multiple transactional profiles.
  • service bureau 640 sends out the merchant TSID, anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data to receiving party 130 .
  • the data sets outlined in step 750 may be sent to receiving party 130 via a SCP server (secure copy) and are never written to disk. Additionally, service bureau 640 deletes the transactional profile (table 650 in FIG. 6 ) containing the user information (TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction string).
  • receiving party 130 matches the anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data of received table 650 with the receiving party cookie associated with user 600 in table 630 by using the merchant TSID as a key.
  • the merchant TSID is then deleted from the system.
  • the new, exemplary record created by this action may include the following (see table 655 in FIG. 6 ):
  • receiving party 130 may decrypt the transactional data to yield (see table 660 in FIG. 6 ):
  • receiving party 130 transfers the received user data to a data storage area.
  • the non-unique demographic and rolled-up transactional data may be mapped to variables in a data table, for example, a Behavioral Attribute Table (“BAT”).
  • BAT Behavioral Attribute Table
  • Table 1 illustrates the type of data accessible by each entity during the associated steps described in the merchant embodiment
  • Table 2 illustrates the data flow through PII database 605 for each step described above:
  • Table 3 illustrates the data flow through data company 620 for each step described above:
  • Table 4 illustrates the data flow through merchant database 635 for each step described above:
  • Table 5 illustrates the data flow through service bureau 640 for each step described above:
  • Table 6 illustrates the data flow through receiving party 130 for each step described above:
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the anonymous collection process for an exemplary alternative embodiment featuring user 800 browsing an online communications network (e.g., Internet) and visiting publisher site 830 that includes published information associated with receiving party 130 .
  • an online communications network e.g., Internet
  • publisher site 830 that includes published information associated with receiving party 130 .
  • similar steps are followed as previously described for the merchant embodiment.
  • the matching mechanism used in the merchant embodiment by service bureau 640 name and address information obtained offline from PII database 605
  • data company cookie created by data company 825 allowing the entire process to be performed online.
  • secure connections for all point-to-point communications within the system. These may include connections between PII database 805 and data company 825 , between data company 825 and service bureau 840 (which operates the anonymizer engine in this embodiment), and between service bureau 840 and receiving party 130 . These secure connections may be implemented using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection.
  • SSL Secure Socket Layer
  • PII database 805 may include user information. Examples of PII databases would be those used by companies that maintain customer information alongside of purchase history. This user information may include personal user information (e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.) along with transactional, demographic, behavioral, and/or other information coupled to the user name and address.
  • personal user information e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.
  • transactional and demographic data are used as the exemplary data that may be coupled to a user's personal information
  • a user's name and address is used as the exemplary personal user information contained in PII database 805 . It is noted that the use of transactional and demographic data and a user's name and address is strictly exemplary (see table 810 in FIG. 8 ) and other forms of data and other personal information may be used in connection with the present inventive method and system.
  • Step 905 is performed by a provider of PII database 805 , and may be performed independent of user 800 's engagement in an active session with publisher site 830 (e.g., offline).
  • this user information is bucketed, or clustered, into an anonymous grouping to prevent triangulation, and the transactional data is encrypted to ensure that other parties are unable to access the data.
  • the user information may include demographic information identifying user 800 as an Australian with two children living in New York. During the bucketing process, this demographic information may be anonymized as a foreigner with more than one child living in the Northeast section of the United States.
  • the transactional data may similarly be bucketed prior its encryption. Thus, for example, a transaction showing a purchase of a J.
  • An exemplary output from step 905 would be an output file including the following:
  • This exemplary code provides the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data string for user 800 (see table 815 in FIG. 8 ).
  • step 910 The parts of step 910 are performed by the provider of PII database 805 and data company 825 , and may be performed independent of user 800 's engagement in an active session with publisher site 830 (e.g., offline).
  • the provider of PII database 805 sends the user information including the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data to data company 825 .
  • Data company 825 may already have stored the name, address, and demographic information for user 800 in its database.
  • data company 825 Upon receiving the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction data, data company 825 matches the received name and address to the user name and address already stored and appends the encrypted transaction data, the anonymized demographic information, and a data company cookie that data company 825 's Web server had previously placed on the Web browser of user 800 (see table 820 in FIG. 8 ). Additionally during this step, data company 825 could optionally validate the name and address information received from PII database 805 .
  • data company 825 could be an online warrantee company.
  • user 800 could have registered with fictitious Web site Warrantee.com (which, for the purposes of this specification, may represent an online warrantee company), giving Warantee.com PII on a web form.
  • Warrantee.com's Web server could also place a cookie on the browser and maintain the association in its database.
  • Step 915 may be performed by user 800 at publisher site 830 .
  • user 800 may commence an active session by visiting (via a browser) online publisher site 830 .
  • Publisher site 830 discloses to user 800 its privacy policy including that user information may be anonymously delivered to a receiving party.
  • publisher site 830 may enable user 800 to opt-out from receiving any targeted information (e.g., banner advertising) as a result of user 800 's disclosure.
  • the opting-out may be performed, by example, by using a point-and-click application (e.g., link to receiving party website).
  • Step 920 is performed at publisher site 830 .
  • publisher site 830 may create an HTML tag and dynamically generate a TSID, associated with user 800 , which is sent over to receiving party 130 's server as a request for a 1 ⁇ 1 pixel.
  • the request for the 1 ⁇ 1 pixel is an image request from publisher site 830 .
  • the image request allows receiving party 130 to deliver the image to publisher site 830 and collect information from publisher site 830 , such as the TSID, and a receiving party cookie if found from user 800 's browser.
  • the TSID is used by receiving party 130 to create table 835 matching the TSID to a receiving party cookie (a data identifier).
  • Receiving party 130 takes the tag sent by publisher site 830 , an exemplary tag including the following:
  • An exemplary “Publisher TSID” may simply be a unique 6-digit source id for publisher site 830 appended to the unique TSID.
  • the TSID may last as long as user 800 remains at publisher site 830 , after which time it may expire.
  • the TSID could optionally be set to expire automatically after a period of time (either predetermined or calculated from other factors).
  • Step 925 is performed at publisher site 830 .
  • publisher site 830 may create a tag and dynamically generate a TSID, associated with user 800 , which is sent over to service bureau 840 's server as a request for a 1 ⁇ 1 pixel.
  • the request for the 1 ⁇ 1 pixel is an image request from publisher site 830 .
  • the image request allows service bureau 840 to deliver an image to publisher site 830 and collect information from publisher site 830 , such as the TSID, and a data company cookie (which serves as identifier 100 ) if found from user 800 's browser. This is accomplished by running a server in service bureau 840 within data company 825 's domain so that it can read the data company cookies on the browser on each request.
  • the TSID is used by service bureau 840 to create a table matching the TSID to a data company cookie (a data identifier).
  • Service bureau 840 takes the tag sent by publisher site 830 , an exemplary tag including the following:
  • the table created at service bureau 840 may include the following:
  • An exemplary “Publisher TSID” may simply be a unique 6-digit source id for publisher site 830 appended to the unique TSID.
  • the TSID may last as long as user 800 remains at publisher site 830 , after which time it may expire.
  • the TSID could optionally be set to expire automatically after a period of time (either predetermined or calculated from other factors).
  • the TSID could be generated at the browser level through a Web server call, utilizing javascript or any other client-side code.
  • service bureau 840 feeds the data company cookie to data company 825 .
  • publishing site 830 now continues with its interaction with user 800 for the rest of the session—after which point the RAM TSID is destroyed.
  • the TSID may be destroyed in response to other indicating factors including, but not limited to a timer.
  • data company 825 matches the data company cookie with the associated anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data.
  • Data company 825 sends back the anonymized demographic information and encrypted transactional data corresponding to user 800 to service bureau 840 .
  • An exemplary feed from data company 825 may include the following:
  • steps 930 and 935 could utilize a different TSID (“TSID2”), created at service bureau 840 , for sending data between service bureau 840 and data company 825 .
  • service bureau 840 sends TSID2 along with the data company cookie to data company 825 in step 930 , after which service bureau 840 deletes the data company cookie in near-real time.
  • data company 825 sends the anonymized demographic information and encrypted transactional data to service bureau 840 with TSID2.
  • service bureau 840 swaps TSID2 for TSID. This results in limiting the entities which hold the TSID to the browser, service bureau 840 and receiving party 130 , while also limiting the amount of time service bureau 840 holds the data company cookie.
  • service bureau 840 receives the response from data company 825 and stores the TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data in a transactional profile database 845 .
  • the profile would look like this (see table 850 in FIG. 8 ):
  • service bureau 840 sends out the TSID, anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data to receiving party 130 .
  • the data sets outlined in step 940 may be sent to receiving party 130 via a SCP server (secure copy) and are never written to disk. Additionally, service bureau 840 deletes the transactional profile (table 850 in FIG. 8 ) containing the user information (TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction string).
  • receiving party 130 matches the anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data of received table 850 with the receiving party cookie associated with user 800 in table 835 by using the publisher TSID as a key.
  • the publisher TSID is then deleted from the system.
  • the new, exemplary record created by this action may include the following (see table 855 in FIG. 8 ):
  • receiving party 130 may decrypt the transactional data to yield:
  • receiving party 130 transfers the received user data to a data storage area.
  • the non-unique demographic and rolled-up transactional data may be mapped to variables in a data table, for example, a Behavioral Attribute Table (BAT).
  • BAT Behavioral Attribute Table
  • Table 7 illustrates the type of data accessible by each entity during the associated steps described in the publisher embodiment:
  • Table 8 illustrates the data flow through PII database 805 for each step described above:
  • Table 9 illustrates the data flow through data company 825 for each step described above:
  • Table 10 illustrates the data flow through service bureau 840 for each step described above:
  • Table 11 illustrates the data flow through receiving party 130 for each step described above:
  • This system may include a plurality of exemplary stages including, but not limited to, collection, integration, fabrication, and distribution stages.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Accounting & Taxation (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Strategic Management (AREA)
  • Finance (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Bioethics (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Medical Informatics (AREA)
  • Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Software Systems (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Storage Device Security (AREA)
  • Computer And Data Communications (AREA)

Abstract

A method and system for sharing online user information in an anonymous manner. The system associates an identifier with anonymized information of the user, and sends the anonymized user information to a receiving party.
In one embodiment, the system receives a temporary id with personally identifiable information from a Web site, uses the personally identifiable information as a key to obtain the anonymized information from a data source, and sends the temporary id with the anonymized information to the receiving party. The receiving party uses the temporary id, previously received by the Web site, as a key to obtain the anonymized information of the user.
In another embodiment, the system receives a temporary id from a Web site with a cookie from the user, uses the cookie as a key to obtain the anonymized information from a data source, and sends the temporary id with the anonymized information to the receiving party. The receiving party uses the temporary id, previously received by the Web site, as a key to obtain the anonymized information of the user.

Description

    CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
  • This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/242,687, filed Oct. 24, 2000.
    • TECHNICAL FIELD
  • The invention relates to sharing online user information in an anonymous manner.
    • BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  • Consumers have recently become concerned about the manner in which online advertisers share data about users. One current way in which online advertisers can share user data is through cookie matching. A cookie is a piece of text generated and stored by a Web browser on behalf of a Web server. Each time the browser makes an HTTP request from the server, the cookie is sent back to the server. In this manner it becomes possible for a Web server to present customized pages to a given Web browser.
  • Cookie matching occurs when Web server (e.g., a merchant Web site) has the ability to read a cookie previously placed by another Web server (e.g., an online advertiser). For example, assume a fictitious Web site Electronics.com (which, for the purposes of this specification, may represent an online advertiser that promotes electronic goods) has an affiliate relationship with fictitious Web site DigitalCamera.com (which, for the purposes of this specification, may represent a merchant Web site that deals in digital cameras). DigitalCamera.com maintains a revolving product image on the Electronics.com homepage. When a given Electronics.com user clicks on the DigitalCamera.com product image, the associated Electronics.com cookie id could be passed to DigitalCamera.com. This would enable DigitalCamera.com to credit Electronics.com for the customer referral without Electronics.com needing to know the personally identifiable information (“PII”) of the customer that it ‘passed through’ to DigitalCamera.com.
  • At this point, DigitalCamera.com has identifiers for both its own proprietary cookie and Electronics.com's cookie. If, in a separate database transfer, Electronics.com sends DigitalCamera.com its online information about the user (e.g., that the user is actively interested in TVs and VCRs), referenced only by Electronics.com's cookie id (and not by PII about the user, such as name and address), DigitalCamera.com is then able to match the identifiers and build an information profile on that user. However, if the Web sites cannot be trusted, it would be possible to send the PII from DigitalCamera.com back to Electronics.com, and make the previously anonymous web activity personally identifiable.
  • Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system and method that would allow, for example, an online advertiser to access anonymous user information in order to provide marketing services to the user (e.g., targeted banner advertising on Web sites), but would not allow the advertiser to triangulate the user's PII with other information sources in an attempt to personally identify the user.
    • SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
  • The present invention is directed to a method and system for anonymously sharing information relating to a user. The invention associates an identifier with “anonymized” information of the user, and sends the anonymized user information to a receiving party (“RP”). In one embodiment of the invention, the system may collect user data from any data source (whether online or offline) and anonymize the data before delivering it to a third party (e.g., a receiving party). In another embodiment, the user data from the data source may already be anonymized. This user information (e.g., transactional, demographic, and/or behavioral) may be delivered to a receiving party without being linked or coupled to PII about the user. Additionally, the information collection process is a unidirectional process as the anonymized data may not be used or collated in any matter to determine (e.g., triangulate) the PII information.
  • The method and system of the present invention may allow a receiving party to collect both user demographic and transactional data, for example, while still protecting the anonymity of users (e.g., consumers). This data collection technique enables the receiving party to employ a deeper data set to heighten the predictive potential of its database—as well as create new, and enhance existing, product offerings. In this exemplary system, no single party holds enough of the data pieces to determine (e.g., via reverse engineering using a receiving party cookie) the personally identifiable information of an actual user.
  • Further advantages of the present invention may include the following: 1) advertisers may be served by having a deeper data set to target against; 2) publishers may benefit by receiving increased ad rates for their more highly targeted inventory while maintaining online user/consumer privacy; 3) merchants may benefit by having additional data in a data table maintained by the receiving party which enhances product and service solutions for the merchant that are delivered by the receiving party. Additionally, advertisers may use the data collected to create products that will intelligently target advertisements to users by utilizing anonymous online behavioral and intent data. This application may also include anonymously coupling of demographic and transactional data with pre-existing behavioral and intent data to provide a robust data set by which to predict future online behavior, and it also simultaneously protects the anonymity of an advertiser's consumer base. Anonymity of the users may be achieved by grouping like users into clusters, or buckets, along with thousands of other like users.
    • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram that depicts sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram that depicts an anonymizer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram that depicts sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram that depicts anonymously sharing online user information though a merchant site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information though a merchant site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram that depicts anonymously sharing online user information though a publisher site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 9 is flow chart that illustrates a process for sharing online user information though a publisher site in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 is a block diagram that depicts a data collection system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
    •  DETAILED DESCRIPTION
  • FIG. 1 provides an exemplary overview of the present invention, with FIG. 2 illustrating the accompanying process. Anonymizer 110 receives identifier 100 as input (step 210). Identifier 100 may include a user identifier (e.g., PII), a Web browser identifier (e.g., a cookie), or any other identifier. The PII information may include a user's name, address, telephone number, social security number, email address, or other information that may personally identify the user. The cookie is a piece of text that enables a given Web server to identify a given Web browser on subsequent requests to the server (e.g. visits to a Web site and/or page).
  • Anonymizer 110 associates identifier 100 with anonymized information of the user (step 220). Non-anonymized user information may include transactional (“trans”), demographic (“demo”), and behavioral information and may be used by advertisers, publishers, and merchants for various applications. An advertiser may refer to any entity that promotes or sells products, services, information, or other items. A publisher may refer to any entity hosting, owning, or controlling a site (e.g., online/Internet Web site) accessible to a user of a communications network. A merchant may refer to any entity that accepts, collects, or transfers user registration information, a common example being the in the course of selling or promoting a product, service, or information to a user.
  • Anonymized information refers to anonymous user information or non-PII that cannot be used to uniquely identify a particular user. To “anonymize” personal user information, user information may be “bucketed” to make it non-personal where unique personal information (e.g., state of residence) is broadened or expanded into a more general category (e.g., geographic region of country).
  • Once anonymizer 110 has associated identifier 100 with anonymized information of the user, anonymizer 110 sends the anonymized user information to receiving party 130. Uses of the collected anonymized data by receiving party 130 may include profile delivery, advertisement delivery, data reporting, and other uses.
  • FIG. 3 depicts an anonymizer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Anonymizer 110 may be a Web server, personal computer or any other type of microprocessor-based device. Anonymizer 110 may include a processor 310, input device 320, output device 330, storage device 340, software 350, and communication device 360. Input device 320 may include a keyboard, mouse, pen-operated touch screen, voice-recognition device, or any other device that provides input from a user. Output device 330 may include a monitor, printer, disk drive, speakers, or any other device that provides tangible output to user.
  • Storage device 340 may include volatile and nonvolatile data storage. Volatile data storage includes RAM, a cache, or any storage medium that temporarily holds data while being processed; nonvolatile data storage includes a hard drive, CD-ROM drive, tape drive, removable storage disk, or any other non-temporary storage medium. Communication device 360 may include a modem, network interface card, or any other device capable of transmitting and receiving signals over a network.
  • Software 350 may be executed by processor 310 and may include an “anonymization engine,” which receives identifier 100 via input from input device 320, associates identifier 100 with anonymized information of the user, and sends the anonymized user information to receiving party 130 via output device 330.
  • FIG. 4 depicts sharing online user information in an anonymous manner in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 5 illustrating the accompanying process. In FIG. 4, receiving party 130 obtains anonymized user information 120 from anonymizer 110, which has a non-anonymous relationship with user 400.
  • Anonymizer 110 receives PII disclosed by user 400 (step 510). Anonymizer 110 associates this PII information with a temporary identifier and passes the temporary identifier to user 400 (step 520). During the course of exemplary communications (e.g., Web browsing on the Internet), user 400 may interact anonymously with receiving party 130 and pass the temporary identifier to receiving party 130 during the course of the interactive communications (step 530).
  • Receiving party 130, having an anonymous relationship with user 400, may request non-PII anonymized user information 120 from anonymizer 110 using the temporary identifier (step 540). In response to this request, anonymizer 110 sends anonymized user information 120 to receiving party 130 based on the temporary identifier (step 550) and then deletes the temporary identifier associated with user 400.
  • As a result of this process, receiving party 130 is able to collect the anonymized user information using the temporary identifier, but receiving party 130 (or any other party) is prevented from ascertaining or requesting associated PII of user 400 from anonymizer 110 based on the temporary identifier since the temporary identifier has been deleted by anonymizer 110. Even if the temporary identifier had not been deleted, user 400's PII could still not be ascertained since it has been anonymized. Another useful result of this process is that user 400 is efficiently utilized as a transparent intermediary (independent of any user selection) for facilitating transfer of anonymized user information to receiving party 130.
    • Merchant Embodiment
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the anonymous collection process for an exemplary embodiment featuring a provider of goods and/or services over an interactive communications network (e.g., an online merchant on the Internet), with FIG. 7 illustrating the accompanying process. To enhance data security and privacy in the communications environment, one may employ secure connections for all point-to-point communications within the system. These may include connections between PII database 605 and data company 620, between data company 620 and service bureau 640 (which acts as anonymizer 110 in this embodiment, operating the anonymizer engine), and between service bureau 640 and receiving party 130. These secure connections may be implemented using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection. The dotted line borders in the figures do not necessarily reflect an entity division (such as different domains), but a division of system duties which would enable the maximum levels of scaleability for the system.
  • PII database 605 may include user information. Examples of PII databases would be those used by companies that maintain customer information alongside of purchase history. This user information may include personal user information (e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.) along with transactional, demographic, behavioral, and/or other information coupled to the user name and address. For the exemplary process described herein, transactional and demographic data are used as the exemplary data that may be coupled to a user's personal information, and a user's name and address is used as the exemplary personal user information contained in PII database 605. It is noted that the use of transactional and demographic data and a user's name and address is strictly exemplary (see table 610 in FIG. 6) and other forms of data and other personal information may be used in connection with the present inventive method and system.
  • Step 705 is performed by a provider of PII database 605, and may be performed independent of user 600's engagement in an active session with merchant site 625 (e.g., offline). At step 705, this user information is bucketed, or clustered, into an anonymous grouping to prevent triangulation, and the transactional data is encrypted to ensure that other parties are unable to access the data. For example, the user information may include demographic information identifying user 600 as an Australian with two children living in New York. During the bucketing process, this demographic information may be anonymized as a foreigner with more than one child living in the Northeast section of the United States. Furthermore, the transactional data may similarly be bucketed prior its encryption. Thus, for example, a transaction showing a purchase of a J. Crew men's sweater on Jul. 1, 2000 for $49 may be bucketed as a purchase of a men's apparel item during the 3rd Quarter, 2000 for an amount less than $100. As a result of this process, a party with access to the anonymized user information cannot determine, or triangulate, a unique individual from this data as any sensitive data has been removed, ensuring quality control for the system. An exemplary output from step 705 would be an output file including the following:
  • <Name><Address><Anon Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • This exemplary code provides the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data string for user 600 (see table 615 in FIG. 6).
  • The parts of step 710 are performed by the provider of PII database 605 and data company 620, and may be performed independent of user 600's engagement in an active session with merchant site 625 (e.g., offline). At step 710, the provider of PII database 605 sends the user information including the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data to data company 620. One may use a secure connection for this communication between PII database 605 and data company 620. Data company 620 may already have stored the name, address, and demographic information for user 600 in its database. Upon receiving the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction data, data company 620 matches the received name and address to the user name and address already stored and appends the encrypted transaction data and the anonymized demographic information to the stored user name and address. Additionally during this step, data company 620 could optionally validate the name and address information received from PII database 605.
  • Step 715 may be performed by user 600 at merchant site 625. At step 715, user 600 may commence an active session by visiting (via a browser) online merchant site 625 and disclosing personal information, via an online registration form, login process, or any other request for personal information process, to merchant site 625. For this example, the personal information includes the user name and address. Merchant site 625 discloses to user 600 its privacy policy including that user name and address information may be passed to a data company for the process of address verification and profile development. Additionally, merchant site 625 may enable user 600 to opt-out from receiving any targeted information (e.g., banner advertising) as a result of user 600's disclosure. The opting-out may be performed, for example, by using a point-and-click application (e.g., link to receiving party 130).
  • Step 720 is performed by merchant site 625. For this example, after user 600 registers online, merchant site 625 may create an HTML tag and dynamically generate a temporary session id (“TSID”), associated with user 600, which is sent over to receiving party 130's server as a request for a 1×1 pixel. The request for the 1×1 pixel is an image request from merchant site 625. The image request allows receiving party 130 to deliver an image to merchant site 625 and collect information from merchant site 625, such as the TSID, and a receiving party cookie if found from user 600's browser. The TSID is used by receiving party 130 to create table 630 matching the TSID to the receiving party cookie (a data identifier).
  • Receiving party 130 takes the tag sent by merchant site 625, an exemplary tag including the following:
  • <img src=“http://www.receivingparty.net/pixel; tempID=[TSID]?>
  • and creates a table out of it which looks like this:
  • <Receiving Party Cookie><Merchant TSID>
  • An exemplary “Merchant TSID” may simply be a unique 6-digit source id for merchant site 625 appended to the unique TSID. The TSID may last as long as user 600 remains at merchant site 625, after which time it may expire. Moreover, the TSID could optionally be set to expire automatically after a period of time (either predetermined or calculated from other factors). In an alternative embodiment, the TSID could be generated at the browser level through a Web server call, utilizing javascript or any other client-side code.
  • Steps 725-750 may be performed consecutively in real-time.
  • At step 725, one may limit the time for which data (e.g., user 600's TSID) may be retained. At merchant site 625, for example, user 600's TSID may be stored as a session variable in RAM only on merchant site 625's Web server, and may be temporary and non-recoverable, with such storage lasting only as long as the TSID remains active. Upon expiration of the TSID, the TSID may be removed from temporary storage. Additionally, as a further exemplary security measure, it may be enforced as a data processing rule that the association between TSID and Name and Address is never written to disk.
  • For step 730, merchant site 625 feeds the name and address information (which serves as identifier 100) in merchant customer database 635 to an anonymizer engine operated by service bureau 640 to verify or validate the name and address information input by user 600. Merchant site 625 would, for example, pass:
  • <Merchant TSID><Name><Address>
  • via an encrypted re-direct (SSL, a secure socket layer) to service bureau 640.
  • At this point merchant site 625 now continues with its interaction with user 600 for the rest of the session—after which point the RAM TSID is destroyed. Also, the TSID may be destroyed in response to other indicating factors including, but not limited to a timer. Additionally, for new user registrations, merchant site 625 may optionally store user 600's inputted information to merchant database 635 (e.g., name, address, and transactional data).
  • At step 735, upon receiving the validation request from merchant site 625 (step 730), service bureau 640, operator of the anonymizer engine, sends a request over to data company 620 for information corresponding to the user name and address.
  • At step 740, data company 620 replies to the validation request received from service bureau 640. Data company 620 verifies the name and address information received and passes back the corrected address details, anonymized demographic data, and encrypted transactional data corresponding to user 600 to service bureau 640. An exemplary feed from data company 620 may include the following:
  • <Name><Address><Anon Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • Any corrections may be fed back to the merchant site (see step 745). One may employ secure connections for communication between data company 620 and service bureau 640, operator of the anonymizer engine. Possible exemplary scenarios include these cases:
  • Case One:
      • The name and address sent across by service bureau 640 is found in the database and it is correct.
      • The original name and address, the message “Correct Address,” anonymized demographic data and encrypted transactional data on user 600 is sent back to service bureau 640.
  • Case Two:
      • The name and address sent across by service bureau 640 is not found in the database.
      • Both the original name and address for user 600 and the message “Not found” are returned to service bureau 640.
  • Case Three:
      • The name and address is found and is incorrect by the standards of data company 620.
      • The original name and address, the corrected name and address, anonymized demographic data and encrypted transactional data for user 600 are returned to service bureau 640.
  • At optional step 745, which may be performed on a periodic schedule, the anonymizer engine run by service bureau 640 would pass back the corrected name and address to merchant site 625. For example, only changes/corrections would be passed back to merchant site 625 and would be performed at an encrypted file and/or message level. Additionally, data company 620 may optionally pass back other user information. The following shows the exemplary scenarios and resulting messages that may occur:
  • Case One:
      • The name and address sent across by service bureau 640 is found in data company 620's database and it is correct.
      • No message is generated back to merchant site 625.
  • Case Two:
      • The name and address sent across by service bureau 640 is not found in data company 620's database.
      • Both the original name and address and the message “Not found” are returned to merchant site 625.
  • Case Three:
      • The name and address is found and is incorrect.
      • The original name and address and the corrected name and address are returned to merchant site 625.
  • At step 750, merchant site 625's TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data from data company 620 are stored in a transactional profile database 645 by service bureau 640. The profile would look like this (see table 650 in FIG. 6):
  • <Merchant TSID><Anonymous Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • One may limit the time for which this data is retained, for example, by maintaining this data for a maximum of 36 hours. The name and address information are removed from profiles database 645. The database may contain a table of multiple transactional profiles.
  • At step 755, service bureau 640 sends out the merchant TSID, anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data to receiving party 130. The data sets outlined in step 750 may be sent to receiving party 130 via a SCP server (secure copy) and are never written to disk. Additionally, service bureau 640 deletes the transactional profile (table 650 in FIG. 6) containing the user information (TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction string).
  • At step 760, using earlier created table 630 matching the receiving party cookie with the TSID, receiving party 130 matches the anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data of received table 650 with the receiving party cookie associated with user 600 in table 630 by using the merchant TSID as a key. The merchant TSID is then deleted from the system. The new, exemplary record created by this action may include the following (see table 655 in FIG. 6):
  • <Receiving Party cookie><Anon Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • One may limit the time for which this data is retained, for example, by maintaining this data for a maximum of 36 hours.
  • At step 765, receiving party 130 may decrypt the transactional data to yield (see table 660 in FIG. 6):
  • <Receiving Party cookie><Anony Demo><Decrypted Trans>
  • One may limit the time for which this data is retained, for example, by maintaining this data for a maximum of 36 hours.
  • At step 770, receiving party 130 transfers the received user data to a data storage area. The non-unique demographic and rolled-up transactional data may be mapped to variables in a data table, for example, a Behavioral Attribute Table (“BAT”). The anonymized demographic and transactional data is then added to the BAT.
  • In accordance with this embodiment, Table 1 illustrates the type of data accessible by each entity during the associated steps described in the merchant embodiment
  • TABLE 1
    Entity Step(s) PII Trans Demo TSID RP Cookie
    PII Database
    705, 710 X X
    605
    Data Company 710, 735, 740 X [Encrypted] X
    620
    Merchant 715-730, 745 X X
    Database
    635
    Service Bureau 735, 740 X [Encrypted] X
    640 730, 745 X X
    (Profiles 645) 750, 755 [Encrypted] X X
    Receiving Party
    130 755 [Encrypted] X X
    720, 760 X X
    765, 770 X X X
  • Table 2 illustrates the data flow through PII database 605 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 2
    PII Database
    Step Name Address Transactions
    700 - START STATE J. Doe 31 Main St, NY J. Crew Sweater, 7/2000, $50
    705 - Bucketing/De-triangulation J. Doe Northeast Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
    705(a) - Encryption of Transaction J. Doe Northeast F6% d367#
    Data
    710 - Table Sent To Data Co.
    710 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted
    String
    715 - User Visits Merchant Site
    720 - Merchant Site Sends TSID To
    Receiving Pty
    725 - User Registers on Site
    730 - Merchant Site Routes User
    Registration Info To Service
    Bureau with TSID
    735 - Service Bureau Sends Name and
    Address for Validation To Data
    Co.
    740 - Data Co. Modifies Address As
    Required (in this case, from 13
    Main to 31 Main), Appends
    Demo and Encrypted Trans Data,
    and Sends To Service Bureau
    745 - Service Bureau Returns
    Validated Address to Merchant
    (Optional)
    750 - Name and Address Are Dropped
    from Service Bureau
    755 - Service Bureau Sends Table To
    Receiving Pty; Table Is Erased in
    Service Bureau
    760 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC
    Cookie for TSID
    765 - Trans Are Decrypted; TSID Is
    Dropped
    770 - Data Is Added To Receiving
    Pty's Data Repository
    775 - END STATE J. Doe 31 Main St, NY J. Crew Sweater, 7/2000, $50
  • Table 3 illustrates the data flow through data company 620 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 3
    Merchant Data Co.
    Step Name Address Address Demo Trans
    700 - START STATE J. Doe 31 Main St, NY Male
    705 - Bucketing/De-triangulation
    705(a) - Encryption of Transaction
    Data
    710 - Table Sent To Data Co. J. Doe 31 Main St, NY F6% d367#
    710 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted J. Doe 31 Main St, NY Male F6% d367#
    String
    715 - User Visits Merchant Site
    720 - Merchant Site Sends TSID To
    Receiving Pty
    725 - User Registers on Site
    730 - Merchant Site Routes User
    Registration Info To Service
    Bureau with TSID
    735 - Service Bureau Sends Name and J. Doe 13 Main St, 31 Main St, NY Male F6% d367#
    Address for Validation To Data NY
    Co.
    740 - Data Co. Modifies Address As
    Required (in this case, from 13
    Main to 31 Main), Appends
    Demo and Encrypted Trans Data,
    and Sends To Service Bureau
    745 - Service Bureau Returns
    Validated Address to Merchant
    (Optional)
    750 - Name and Address Are Dropped
    from Service Bureau
    755 - Service Bureau Sends Table To
    Receiving Pty; Table Is Erased in
    Service Bureau
    760 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC
    Cookie for TSID
    765 - Trans Are Decrypted; TSID Is
    Dropped
    770 - Data Is Added To Receiving
    Pty's Data Repository
    775 - END STATE J. Doe 31 Main St, NY Male F6% d367#
  • Table 4 illustrates the data flow through merchant database 635 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 4
    Merchant Data Co.
    Step Name Address Address
    700 - START STATE
    705 - Bucketing/De-triangulation
    705(a) - Encryption of Transaction
    Data
    710 - Table Sent To Data Co.
    710 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted
    String
    715 - User Visits Merchant Site
    720 - Merchant Site Sends TSID To
    Receiving Pty
    725 - User Registers on Site J. Doe 13 Main
    St, NY
    730 - Merchant Site Routes User
    Registration Info To Service
    Bureau with TSID
    735 - Service Bureau Sends Name and
    Address for Validation To Data
    Co.
    740 - Data Co. Modifies Address As
    Required (in this case, from 13
    Main to 31 Main), Appends
    Demo and Encrypted Trans Data,
    and Sends To Service Bureau
    745 - Service Bureau Returns J. Doe 13 Main 31 Main
    Validated Address to Merchant St, NY St, NY
    (Optional)
    750 - Name and Address Are Dropped
    from Service Bureau
    755 - Service Bureau Sends Table To
    Receiving Pty; Table Is Erased in
    Service Bureau
    760 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC
    Cookie for TSID
    765 - Trans Are Decrypted; TSID Is
    Dropped
    770 - Data Is Added To Receiving
    Pty's Data Repository
    775 - END STATE J. Doe 13 Main 31 Main
    St, NY St, NY
  • Table 5 illustrates the data flow through service bureau 640 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 5
    Merchant Data Co.
    Step Name Address TSID Address Demo Trans
    700 - START STATE
    705 - Bucketing/De-triangulation
    705(a) - Encryption of Transaction
    Data
    710 - Table Sent To Data Co.
    710 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted
    String
    715 - User Visits Merchant Site
    720 - Merchant Site Sends TSID To
    Receiving Pty
    725 - User Registers on Site
    730 - Merchant Site Routes User J. Doe 13 Main St, 1564823
    Registration Info To Service NY
    Bureau with TSID
    735 - Service Bureau Sends Name and
    Address for Validation To Data
    Co.
    740 - Data Co. Modifies Address As J. Doe 13 Main St, 1564823 31 Main St, Male F6% d367#
    Required (in this case, from 13 NY NY
    Main to 31 Main), Appends
    Demo and Encrypted Trans Data,
    and Sends To Service Bureau
    745 - Service Bureau Returns 1564823 Male F6% d367#
    Validated Address to Merchant
    (Optional)
    750 - Name and Address Are Dropped
    from Service Bureau
    755 - Service Bureau Sends Table To
    Receiving Pty; Table Is Erased in
    Service Bureau
    760 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC
    Cookie for TSID
    765 - Trans Are Decrypted; TSID Is
    Dropped
    770 - Data Is Added To Receiving
    Pty's Data Repository
    775 - END STATE
  • Table 6 illustrates the data flow through receiving party 130 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 6
    Receiving Pty
    Step Cookie TSID Demo Trans
    700 - START STATE
    705 - Bucketing/De-triangulation
    705(a) - Encryption of Transaction
    Data
    710 - Table Sent To Data Co.
    710 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted
    String
    715 - User Visits Merchant Site
    720 - Merchant Site Sends TSID To 94b6p 1564823
    Receiving Pty
    725 - User Registers on Site
    730 - Merchant Site Routes User
    Registration Info To Service
    Bureau with TSID
    735 - Service Bureau Sends Name and
    Address for Validation To Data
    Co.
    740 - Data Co. Modifies Address As
    Required (in this case, from 13
    Main to 31 Main), Appends
    Demo and Encrypted Trans Data,
    and Sends To Service Bureau
    745 - Service Bureau Returns
    Validated Address to Merchant
    (Optional)
    750 - Name and Address Are Dropped
    from Service Bureau
    755 - Service Bureau Sends Table To 1564823 Male F6% d367#
    Receiving Pty; Table Is Erased in
    Service Bureau
    760 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC 94b6p 1564823 Male F6% d367#
    Cookie for TSID
    765 - Trans Are Decrypted; TSID Is 94b6p Male Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
    Dropped
    770 - Data Is Added To Receiving 94b6p Male Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
    Pty's Data Repository
    775 - END STATE 94b6p Male Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
    • Publisher Embodiment
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the anonymous collection process for an exemplary alternative embodiment featuring user 800 browsing an online communications network (e.g., Internet) and visiting publisher site 830 that includes published information associated with receiving party 130. For this exemplary alternative embodiment, similar steps are followed as previously described for the merchant embodiment. Particularly, the matching mechanism used in the merchant embodiment by service bureau 640 (name and address information obtained offline from PII database 605) is replaced with a data company cookie created by data company 825 allowing the entire process to be performed online.
  • To enhance data security and privacy in the communications environment, one may employ secure connections for all point-to-point communications within the system. These may include connections between PII database 805 and data company 825, between data company 825 and service bureau 840 (which operates the anonymizer engine in this embodiment), and between service bureau 840 and receiving party 130. These secure connections may be implemented using a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection. The steps of this exemplary process (as shown in FIG. 8) are described below. All steps of the process may be performed while a user is engaged in an active session at an online site.
  • PII database 805 may include user information. Examples of PII databases would be those used by companies that maintain customer information alongside of purchase history. This user information may include personal user information (e.g., name, address, phone number, etc.) along with transactional, demographic, behavioral, and/or other information coupled to the user name and address. For the exemplary process described herein, transactional and demographic data are used as the exemplary data that may be coupled to a user's personal information, and a user's name and address is used as the exemplary personal user information contained in PII database 805. It is noted that the use of transactional and demographic data and a user's name and address is strictly exemplary (see table 810 in FIG. 8) and other forms of data and other personal information may be used in connection with the present inventive method and system.
  • Step 905 is performed by a provider of PII database 805, and may be performed independent of user 800's engagement in an active session with publisher site 830 (e.g., offline). At step 905, this user information is bucketed, or clustered, into an anonymous grouping to prevent triangulation, and the transactional data is encrypted to ensure that other parties are unable to access the data. For example, the user information may include demographic information identifying user 800 as an Australian with two children living in New York. During the bucketing process, this demographic information may be anonymized as a foreigner with more than one child living in the Northeast section of the United States. Furthermore, the transactional data may similarly be bucketed prior its encryption. Thus, for example, a transaction showing a purchase of a J. Crew men's sweater on Jul. 1, 2000 for $49 may be bucketed as a purchase of a men's apparel item during the 3rd Quarter, 2000 for an amount less than $100. As a result of this process, a party with access to the anonymized user information cannot determine, or triangulate, a unique individual from this data as any sensitive data has been removed, ensuring quality control for the system. An exemplary output from step 905 would be an output file including the following:
  • <Name><Address><Anon Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • This exemplary code provides the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data string for user 800 (see table 815 in FIG. 8).
  • The parts of step 910 are performed by the provider of PII database 805 and data company 825, and may be performed independent of user 800's engagement in an active session with publisher site 830 (e.g., offline). At step 910, the provider of PII database 805 sends the user information including the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data to data company 825. One may use a secure connection for this communication between PII database 805 and data company 825. Data company 825 may already have stored the name, address, and demographic information for user 800 in its database. Upon receiving the name, address, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction data, data company 825 matches the received name and address to the user name and address already stored and appends the encrypted transaction data, the anonymized demographic information, and a data company cookie that data company 825's Web server had previously placed on the Web browser of user 800 (see table 820 in FIG. 8). Additionally during this step, data company 825 could optionally validate the name and address information received from PII database 805.
  • As an example, data company 825 could be an online warrantee company. After user 800 had bought a DigitalCamera.com product, user 800 could have registered with fictitious Web site Warrantee.com (which, for the purposes of this specification, may represent an online warrantee company), giving Warantee.com PII on a web form. At this time Warrantee.com's Web server could also place a cookie on the browser and maintain the association in its database.
  • Step 915 may be performed by user 800 at publisher site 830. At step 915, user 800 may commence an active session by visiting (via a browser) online publisher site 830. Publisher site 830 discloses to user 800 its privacy policy including that user information may be anonymously delivered to a receiving party. Additionally, publisher site 830 may enable user 800 to opt-out from receiving any targeted information (e.g., banner advertising) as a result of user 800's disclosure. The opting-out may be performed, by example, by using a point-and-click application (e.g., link to receiving party website).
  • Step 920 is performed at publisher site 830. For this example, when user 800 visits publisher site 830, publisher site 830 may create an HTML tag and dynamically generate a TSID, associated with user 800, which is sent over to receiving party 130's server as a request for a 1×1 pixel. The request for the 1×1 pixel is an image request from publisher site 830. The image request allows receiving party 130 to deliver the image to publisher site 830 and collect information from publisher site 830, such as the TSID, and a receiving party cookie if found from user 800's browser. The TSID is used by receiving party 130 to create table 835 matching the TSID to a receiving party cookie (a data identifier).
  • Receiving party 130 takes the tag sent by publisher site 830, an exemplary tag including the following:
  • <img src=“http://www.receivingparty.net/pixel; tempID=[TSID]?>
  • and creates a table out of it which looks like this:
  • <Receiving Party Cookie><Publisher TSID>
  • An exemplary “Publisher TSID” may simply be a unique 6-digit source id for publisher site 830 appended to the unique TSID. The TSID may last as long as user 800 remains at publisher site 830, after which time it may expire. Alternatively, the TSID could optionally be set to expire automatically after a period of time (either predetermined or calculated from other factors).
  • Step 925 is performed at publisher site 830. For this example, publisher site 830 may create a tag and dynamically generate a TSID, associated with user 800, which is sent over to service bureau 840's server as a request for a 1×1 pixel. The request for the 1×1 pixel is an image request from publisher site 830. The image request allows service bureau 840 to deliver an image to publisher site 830 and collect information from publisher site 830, such as the TSID, and a data company cookie (which serves as identifier 100) if found from user 800's browser. This is accomplished by running a server in service bureau 840 within data company 825's domain so that it can read the data company cookies on the browser on each request.
  • The TSID is used by service bureau 840 to create a table matching the TSID to a data company cookie (a data identifier). Service bureau 840 takes the tag sent by publisher site 830, an exemplary tag including the following:
  • <img src=“http://datacompany.servicebureau.net/pixel; tempID=[TSID]?>
  • The table created at service bureau 840 may include the following:
  • <Data Company Cookie><Publisher TSID>
  • An exemplary “Publisher TSID” may simply be a unique 6-digit source id for publisher site 830 appended to the unique TSID. The TSID may last as long as user 800 remains at publisher site 830, after which time it may expire. Moreover, the TSID could optionally be set to expire automatically after a period of time (either predetermined or calculated from other factors). In an alternative embodiment, the TSID could be generated at the browser level through a Web server call, utilizing javascript or any other client-side code.
  • At step 930, service bureau 840 feeds the data company cookie to data company 825. At this point publishing site 830 now continues with its interaction with user 800 for the rest of the session—after which point the RAM TSID is destroyed. Also, the TSID may be destroyed in response to other indicating factors including, but not limited to a timer.
  • At step 935, data company 825 matches the data company cookie with the associated anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data. Data company 825 sends back the anonymized demographic information and encrypted transactional data corresponding to user 800 to service bureau 840. An exemplary feed from data company 825 may include the following:
  • <Data Company Cookie><Publisher TSID><Anon Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • One may employ secure connections for communication between data company 825 and the service bureau 840, operator of the anonymizer engine.
  • In an alternative embodiment, steps 930 and 935 could utilize a different TSID (“TSID2”), created at service bureau 840, for sending data between service bureau 840 and data company 825. In this embodiment, service bureau 840 sends TSID2 along with the data company cookie to data company 825 in step 930, after which service bureau 840 deletes the data company cookie in near-real time. In step 935, data company 825 sends the anonymized demographic information and encrypted transactional data to service bureau 840 with TSID2. Once received, service bureau 840 swaps TSID2 for TSID. This results in limiting the entities which hold the TSID to the browser, service bureau 840 and receiving party 130, while also limiting the amount of time service bureau 840 holds the data company cookie.
  • At step 940, service bureau 840 receives the response from data company 825 and stores the TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transactional data in a transactional profile database 845. The profile would look like this (see table 850 in FIG. 8):
  • <Publisher TSID><Anon Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • One may limit the time for which this data is retained, for example, by maintaining this data for a maximum of 36 hours. After which, the data company cookie may be deleted from profiles database 845.
  • At step 945, service bureau 840 sends out the TSID, anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data to receiving party 130. The data sets outlined in step 940 may be sent to receiving party 130 via a SCP server (secure copy) and are never written to disk. Additionally, service bureau 840 deletes the transactional profile (table 850 in FIG. 8) containing the user information (TSID, anonymized demographic information, and encrypted transaction string).
  • At step 950, using earlier created table 835 matching the receiving party cookie with the TSID, receiving party 130 matches the anonymized demographic information and the encrypted transactional data of received table 850 with the receiving party cookie associated with user 800 in table 835 by using the publisher TSID as a key. The publisher TSID is then deleted from the system. The new, exemplary record created by this action may include the following (see table 855 in FIG. 8):
  • <Receiving Party cookie><Anon Demo><Encrypted Trans>
  • One may limit the time for which this data is retained, for example, by maintaining this data for a maximum of 36 hours.
  • At step 955, receiving party 130 may decrypt the transactional data to yield:
  • <Receiving Party cookie><Anon Demo><Decrypted Trans>
  • One may limit the time for which this data is retained, for example, by maintaining this data for a maximum of 36 hours.
  • At step 960, receiving party 130 transfers the received user data to a data storage area. The non-unique demographic and rolled-up transactional data may be mapped to variables in a data table, for example, a Behavioral Attribute Table (BAT). The anonymized demographic and transactional data is then added to the BAT.
  • Table 7 illustrates the type of data accessible by each entity during the associated steps described in the publisher embodiment:
  • TABLE 7
    Data Co
    PII Trans Demo TSID Cookie RP Cookie
    PII Database Steps 905, 910 X X X
    805
    Data Company Steps 910, X [Encrypted] X X
    825 935, 940
    Service Bureau Steps 925 X X
    840 Steps 930, 935 [Encrypted] X X X
    (Profiles 845) Steps 940, 945 [Encrypted] X X
    Receiving Party
    130 Steps 920, 945 [Encrypted] X X X
    Steps
    955, 960 X X X
  • Table 8 illustrates the data flow through PII database 805 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 8
    PII Database
    Step Name Address Transactions
    900 - START STATE J. Doe 31 Main St, NY J. Crew Sweater, 7/2000, $50
    905 - Bucketing/De-triangulation J. Doe Northeast Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
    905(a) - Encryption of Transaction J. Doe Northeast F6% d367#
    Data
    910 - Table Sent To Data Co.
    910 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted
    String
    915 - User Visits Publisher Site
    920 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Receiving Pty
    925 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Service Bureau
    930 - Service Bureau Sends Data Co.
    Cookie To Data Co.
    935 - Data Co. Sends Demo and
    Transactional Data Back To
    Service Bureau
    940 - Data Co. Is Dropped from
    Service Bureau
    945 - Service Bureau Sends Remaining
    Table To Receiving Pty; Table Is
    Erased in the Service Bureau
    950 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC
    Cookie For TSID
    955 - Transactions are Decrypted;
    TSID Is Dropped
    960 - That Data Is Added To Receiving
    Pty's Data Repository
    965 - END STATE J. Doe 31 Main St, NY J. Crew Sweater, 7/2000, $50
  • Table 9 illustrates the data flow through data company 825 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 9
    Data Co. Data Co.
    Step Cookie Name Address Demo Trans
    900 - START STATE 86h2j J. Doe 31 Main St, NY Male
    905 - Bucketing/De-triangulation
    905(a) - Encryption of Transaction
    Data
    910 - Table Sent To Data Co. J. Doe 31 Main St, NY F6% d367#
    910 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted 86h2j J. Doe 31 Main St, NY Male F6% d367#
    String
    915 - User Visits Publisher Site
    920 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Receiving Pty
    925 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Service Bureau
    930 - Service Bureau Sends Data Co. 86h2j Male F6% d367#
    Cookie To Data Co.
    935 - Data Co. Sends Demo and
    Transactional Data Back To
    Service Bureau
    940 - Data Co. Is Dropped from
    Service Bureau
    945 - Service Bureau Sends Remaining
    Table To Receiving Pty; Table Is
    Erased in the Service Bureau
    950 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC
    Cookie For TSID
    955 - Transactions are Decrypted;
    TSID Is Dropped
    960 - That Data Is Added To Receiving
    Pty's Data Repository
    965 - END STATE J. Doe 31 Main St, NY Male F6% d367#
  • Table 10 illustrates the data flow through service bureau 840 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 10
    Data Co.
    Step Cookie TSID Demo Trans
    900 - START STATE
    905 - Bucketing/De-triangulation
    905(a) - Encryption of Transaction
    Data
    910 - Table Sent To Data Co.
    910 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted
    String
    915 - User Visits Publisher Site
    920 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Receiving Pty
    925 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or 86h2j 1564823
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Service Bureau
    930 - Service Bureau Sends Data Co.
    Cookie To Data Co.
    935 - Data Co. Sends Demo and 86h2j 1564823 Male F6% d367#
    Transactional Data Back To
    Service Bureau
    940 - Data Co. Is Dropped from 1564823 Male F6% d367#
    Service Bureau
    945 - Service Bureau Sends Remaining
    Table To Receiving Pty; Table Is
    Erased in the Service Bureau
    950 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC
    Cookie For TSID
    955 - Transactions are Decrypted;
    TSID Is Dropped
    960 - That Data Is Added To Receiving
    Pty's Data Repository
    965 - END STATE
  • Table 11 illustrates the data flow through receiving party 130 for each step described above:
  • TABLE 11
    Receiving Pty
    Step Cookie TSID Demo Trans
    900 - START STATE
    905 - Bucketing/De-triangulation
    905(a) - Encryption of Transaction
    Data
    910 - Table Sent To Data Co.
    910 - Data Co. Appends Encrypted
    String
    915 - User Visits Publisher Site
    920 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or 94b6p 1564823
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Receiving Pty
    925 - Publisher Site's Tags (Or
    Spotlight Embedded in Ad Tags)
    Send a TSID Creating a Table at
    Service Bureau
    930 - Service Bureau Sends Data Co.
    Cookie To Data Co.
    935 - Data Co. Sends Demo and
    Transactional Data Back To
    Service Bureau
    940 - Data Co. Is Dropped from
    Service Bureau
    945 - Service Bureau Sends Remaining 1564823 Male F6% d367#
    Table To Receiving Pty; Table Is
    Erased in the Service Bureau
    950 - Receiving Pty Exchanges DC 94b6p 1564823 Male F6% d367#
    Cookie For TSID
    955 - Transactions are Decrypted; 94b6p Male Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
    TSID Is Dropped
    960 - That Data Is Added To Receiving 94b6p Male Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
    Pty's Data Repository
    965 - END STATE 94b6p Male Apparel, Q3 2000, <$100
  • Referring to FIG. 10, the previous embodiments described herein may be combined with other data collection engines to create a more robust data collection system that also provides data delivery services. This system may include a plurality of exemplary stages including, but not limited to, collection, integration, fabrication, and distribution stages.
  • Several embodiments of the invention are specifically illustrated and/or described herein. However, it will be appreciated that modifications and variations of the invention are covered by the above teachings and within the purview of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and intended scope of the invention.

Claims (2)

1. A method for sharing anonymous user information, comprising:
associating an identifier with anonymized information of the user; and
sending the anonymized user information to a receiving party.
2-23. (canceled)
US13/041,634 2000-10-24 2011-03-07 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information Abandoned US20110161422A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US13/041,634 US20110161422A1 (en) 2000-10-24 2011-03-07 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US24268700P 2000-10-24 2000-10-24
US09/983,493 US7930252B2 (en) 2000-10-24 2001-10-24 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information
US13/041,634 US20110161422A1 (en) 2000-10-24 2011-03-07 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information

Related Parent Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US09/983,493 Continuation US7930252B2 (en) 2000-10-24 2001-10-24 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20110161422A1 true US20110161422A1 (en) 2011-06-30

Family

ID=22915801

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US09/983,493 Active 2025-05-23 US7930252B2 (en) 2000-10-24 2001-10-24 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information
US13/041,634 Abandoned US20110161422A1 (en) 2000-10-24 2011-03-07 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US09/983,493 Active 2025-05-23 US7930252B2 (en) 2000-10-24 2001-10-24 Method and system for sharing anonymous user information

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (2) US7930252B2 (en)
AU (1) AU2002226879A1 (en)
WO (1) WO2002035314A2 (en)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20130006766A1 (en) * 2011-06-29 2013-01-03 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Spend Based Digital Ad Targeting and Measurement
US20140025753A1 (en) * 2012-07-19 2014-01-23 Kristoffer Gronowski Method and apparatus for private token communication services
WO2015009477A1 (en) * 2013-07-16 2015-01-22 Mastercard International Incorporated Systems and methods for correlating cardholder identity attributes on a payment card network to determine payment card fraud
US20150341322A1 (en) * 2014-05-22 2015-11-26 AVG Netherlands B.V. User privacy protection method and system
US10055759B2 (en) 2011-06-29 2018-08-21 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Systems and methods for digital spend based targeting and measurement
US20200234288A1 (en) * 2019-01-17 2020-07-23 Leadpoint, Inc. Systems and methods of securing sensitive data
US11388148B2 (en) * 2020-02-26 2022-07-12 AO Kaspersky Lab System and method of anonymous sending of data from a user device to a recipient device
US11671509B2 (en) * 2018-07-17 2023-06-06 Popdust, Inc. Anonymous eCommerce behavior tracking

Families Citing this family (178)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6181694B1 (en) 1998-04-03 2001-01-30 Vertical Networks, Inc. Systems and methods for multiple mode voice and data communciations using intelligently bridged TDM and packet buses
US6389009B1 (en) 2000-12-28 2002-05-14 Vertical Networks, Inc. Systems and methods for multiple mode voice and data communications using intelligently bridged TDM and packet buses
US7475404B2 (en) 2000-05-18 2009-01-06 Maquis Techtrix Llc System and method for implementing click-through for browser executed software including ad proxy and proxy cookie caching
US8086697B2 (en) 2005-06-28 2011-12-27 Claria Innovations, Llc Techniques for displaying impressions in documents delivered over a computer network
US6832207B1 (en) 2000-11-28 2004-12-14 Almond Net, Inc. Super saturation method for information-media
TW548941B (en) * 2001-08-02 2003-08-21 Skysoft Corp Mask identification code registration system and mask registration method
EP1440398A1 (en) * 2001-10-23 2004-07-28 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Anonymous network-access method and client
US7107338B1 (en) * 2001-12-05 2006-09-12 Revenue Science, Inc. Parsing navigation information to identify interactions based on the times of their occurrences
US7319991B2 (en) * 2001-12-11 2008-01-15 International Business Machines Corporation Computerized cost estimate system and method
US8095589B2 (en) * 2002-03-07 2012-01-10 Compete, Inc. Clickstream analysis methods and systems
US9092788B2 (en) * 2002-03-07 2015-07-28 Compete, Inc. System and method of collecting and analyzing clickstream data
US9129032B2 (en) * 2002-03-07 2015-09-08 Compete, Inc. System and method for processing a clickstream in a parallel processing architecture
US10296919B2 (en) * 2002-03-07 2019-05-21 Comscore, Inc. System and method of a click event data collection platform
US20070055937A1 (en) * 2005-08-10 2007-03-08 David Cancel Presentation of media segments
US20080189408A1 (en) * 2002-10-09 2008-08-07 David Cancel Presenting web site analytics
US9569797B1 (en) 2002-05-30 2017-02-14 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Systems and methods of presenting simulated credit score information
US9400589B1 (en) 2002-05-30 2016-07-26 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Circular rotational interface for display of consumer credit information
US7890451B2 (en) * 2002-10-09 2011-02-15 Compete, Inc. Computer program product and method for refining an estimate of internet traffic
US20040088349A1 (en) * 2002-10-30 2004-05-06 Andre Beck Method and apparatus for providing anonymity to end-users in web transactions
US7603341B2 (en) 2002-11-05 2009-10-13 Claria Corporation Updating the content of a presentation vehicle in a computer network
US7908352B2 (en) 2002-12-19 2011-03-15 Converged Data Solutions, Inc. Methods for managing a plurality of localized devices in geographically diverse locations
US7739365B2 (en) 2002-12-19 2010-06-15 Converged Data Solutions, Inc. Methods for providing a report database for a plurality of localized devices using an abstraction layer and atomic error handling
US7451113B1 (en) 2003-03-21 2008-11-11 Mighty Net, Inc. Card management system and method
US20040199768A1 (en) * 2003-04-04 2004-10-07 Nail Robert A. System and method for enabling enterprise application security
US7260783B1 (en) 2003-07-08 2007-08-21 Falk Esolutions Gmbh System and method for delivering targeted content
US8170912B2 (en) 2003-11-25 2012-05-01 Carhamm Ltd., Llc Database structure and front end
US8099503B2 (en) 2003-12-23 2012-01-17 Microsoft Corporation Methods and systems for providing secure access to a hosted service via a client application
US7827603B1 (en) * 2004-02-13 2010-11-02 Citicorp Development Center, Inc. System and method for secure message reply
US7814119B2 (en) * 2004-03-19 2010-10-12 Hitachi, Ltd. Control of data linkability
US8346593B2 (en) 2004-06-30 2013-01-01 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. System, method, and software for prediction of attitudinal and message responsiveness
US8078602B2 (en) 2004-12-17 2011-12-13 Claria Innovations, Llc Search engine for a computer network
US8255413B2 (en) 2004-08-19 2012-08-28 Carhamm Ltd., Llc Method and apparatus for responding to request for information-personalization
US8732004B1 (en) 2004-09-22 2014-05-20 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Automated analysis of data to generate prospect notifications based on trigger events
US7693863B2 (en) * 2004-12-20 2010-04-06 Claria Corporation Method and device for publishing cross-network user behavioral data
US8645941B2 (en) 2005-03-07 2014-02-04 Carhamm Ltd., Llc Method for attributing and allocating revenue related to embedded software
US8073866B2 (en) 2005-03-17 2011-12-06 Claria Innovations, Llc Method for providing content to an internet user based on the user's demonstrated content preferences
US20060277092A1 (en) * 2005-06-03 2006-12-07 Credigy Technologies, Inc. System and method for a peer to peer exchange of consumer information
US7676418B1 (en) * 2005-06-24 2010-03-09 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Credit portfolio benchmarking system and method
US9105028B2 (en) 2005-08-10 2015-08-11 Compete, Inc. Monitoring clickstream behavior of viewers of online advertisements and search results
US7657571B2 (en) * 2005-08-30 2010-02-02 Microsoft Corporation Electronic data snapshot generator
JP5092288B2 (en) * 2005-09-02 2012-12-05 三菱化学株式会社 Adhesive resin composition and laminate
US8560456B2 (en) * 2005-12-02 2013-10-15 Credigy Technologies, Inc. System and method for an anonymous exchange of private data
US20070162377A1 (en) * 2005-12-23 2007-07-12 Credigy Technologies, Inc. System and method for an online exchange of private data
US8438657B2 (en) * 2006-02-07 2013-05-07 Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Method for controlling the access to a data network
US7711636B2 (en) 2006-03-10 2010-05-04 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for analyzing data
US7747745B2 (en) 2006-06-16 2010-06-29 Almondnet, Inc. Media properties selection method and system based on expected profit from profile-based ad delivery
WO2007149888A2 (en) 2006-06-19 2007-12-27 Almondnet, Inc. Providing collected profiles to media properties having specified interests
US9542690B2 (en) 2006-07-18 2017-01-10 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. System and method for providing international coupon-less discounts
US9934537B2 (en) 2006-07-18 2018-04-03 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. System and method for providing offers through a social media channel
US9430773B2 (en) 2006-07-18 2016-08-30 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Loyalty incentive program using transaction cards
US9489680B2 (en) 2011-02-04 2016-11-08 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Systems and methods for providing location based coupon-less offers to registered card members
US9767467B2 (en) 2006-07-18 2017-09-19 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. System and method for providing coupon-less discounts based on a user broadcasted message
US9558505B2 (en) 2006-07-18 2017-01-31 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. System and method for prepaid rewards
CA2660493A1 (en) 2006-08-17 2008-02-21 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. System and method for providing a score for a used vehicle
US8874465B2 (en) 2006-10-02 2014-10-28 Russel Robert Heiser, III Method and system for targeted content placement
US10614459B2 (en) * 2006-10-02 2020-04-07 Segmint, Inc. Targeted marketing with CPE buydown
BRPI0715289A2 (en) * 2006-10-02 2013-06-11 Segmint Inc custom consumption for advertising
US8036979B1 (en) 2006-10-05 2011-10-11 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. System and method for generating a finance attribute from tradeline data
JP5083218B2 (en) * 2006-12-04 2012-11-28 日本電気株式会社 Information management system, anonymization method, and storage medium
US8620952B2 (en) 2007-01-03 2013-12-31 Carhamm Ltd., Llc System for database reporting
US8606666B1 (en) 2007-01-31 2013-12-10 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. System and method for providing an aggregation tool
US8606626B1 (en) 2007-01-31 2013-12-10 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for providing a direct marketing campaign planning environment
US20080201206A1 (en) 2007-02-01 2008-08-21 7 Billion People, Inc. Use of behavioral portraits in the conduct of E-commerce
US8285656B1 (en) 2007-03-30 2012-10-09 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Systems and methods for data verification
US7742982B2 (en) 2007-04-12 2010-06-22 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for determining thin-file records and determining thin-file risk levels
US7861260B2 (en) 2007-04-17 2010-12-28 Almondnet, Inc. Targeted television advertisements based on online behavior
US9497286B2 (en) 2007-07-07 2016-11-15 Qualcomm Incorporated Method and system for providing targeted information based on a user profile in a mobile environment
US20090048977A1 (en) * 2007-07-07 2009-02-19 Qualcomm Incorporated User profile generation architecture for targeted content distribution using external processes
US9392074B2 (en) 2007-07-07 2016-07-12 Qualcomm Incorporated User profile generation architecture for mobile content-message targeting
US8641327B2 (en) * 2007-07-30 2014-02-04 Kellogg Brown & Root Llc Methods and apparatus for protecting offshore structures
US7698422B2 (en) 2007-09-10 2010-04-13 Specific Media, Inc. System and method of determining user demographic profiles of anonymous users
US9690820B1 (en) 2007-09-27 2017-06-27 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Database system for triggering event notifications based on updates to database records
US20090094313A1 (en) * 2007-10-03 2009-04-09 Jay Feng System, method, and computer program product for sending interactive requests for information
US7996521B2 (en) 2007-11-19 2011-08-09 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. Service for mapping IP addresses to user segments
GB2455099A (en) * 2007-11-28 2009-06-03 Really Virtual Company Ltd Providing an anonymous interaction between a user and a service provider
US11138632B2 (en) 2008-03-17 2021-10-05 Segmint Inc. System and method for authenticating a customer for a pre-approved offer of credit
US11669866B2 (en) 2008-03-17 2023-06-06 Segmint Inc. System and method for delivering a financial application to a prospective customer
US8234159B2 (en) 2008-03-17 2012-07-31 Segmint Inc. Method and system for targeted content placement
US11663631B2 (en) 2008-03-17 2023-05-30 Segmint Inc. System and method for pulling a credit offer on bank's pre-approved property
US10885552B2 (en) 2008-03-17 2021-01-05 Segmint, Inc. Method and system for targeted content placement
US11120471B2 (en) * 2013-10-18 2021-09-14 Segmint Inc. Method and system for targeted content placement
US8250375B2 (en) * 2008-04-25 2012-08-21 Microsoft Corporation Generating unique data from electronic devices
US8312033B1 (en) 2008-06-26 2012-11-13 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for providing an integrated identifier
US9256904B1 (en) 2008-08-14 2016-02-09 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Multi-bureau credit file freeze and unfreeze
US20100094758A1 (en) * 2008-10-13 2010-04-15 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for providing real time anonymized marketing information
US20100174638A1 (en) 2009-01-06 2010-07-08 ConsumerInfo.com Report existence monitoring
WO2010132492A2 (en) 2009-05-11 2010-11-18 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for providing anonymized user profile data
US8711751B2 (en) * 2009-09-25 2014-04-29 Apple Inc. Methods and apparatus for dynamic identification (ID) assignment in wireless networks
US9077690B2 (en) * 2009-12-07 2015-07-07 Nokia Corporation Preservation of user data privacy in a network
US20110191151A1 (en) * 2010-02-01 2011-08-04 Rodney Boyd Rosa System for serving advertisements that allows compensation for user viewing
US8935797B1 (en) 2010-02-25 2015-01-13 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. System and method for online data processing
US9652802B1 (en) 2010-03-24 2017-05-16 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Indirect monitoring and reporting of a user's credit data
US8725613B1 (en) 2010-04-27 2014-05-13 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for early account score and notification
EP2569747A4 (en) * 2010-05-10 2015-11-04 Segmint Inc Consumer-specific advertisement presentation and offer library
US9152727B1 (en) 2010-08-23 2015-10-06 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for processing consumer information for targeted marketing applications
US8825773B1 (en) * 2010-09-20 2014-09-02 Symantec Corporation Systems and methods for concealing information relating to a profile provided by a social networking service
US9747270B2 (en) 2011-01-07 2017-08-29 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Natural input for spreadsheet actions
US8639616B1 (en) 2010-10-01 2014-01-28 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Business to contact linkage system
US8930262B1 (en) 2010-11-02 2015-01-06 Experian Technology Ltd. Systems and methods of assisted strategy design
US8484186B1 (en) 2010-11-12 2013-07-09 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Personalized people finder
US9147042B1 (en) 2010-11-22 2015-09-29 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for data verification
NL2005918C2 (en) * 2010-12-23 2012-06-27 Geobrand B V Method and system for executing an application on a pda terminal.
WO2012112323A2 (en) * 2011-02-15 2012-08-23 Korrelate, Inc. A dual blind method and system for attributing activity to a user
US9558519B1 (en) 2011-04-29 2017-01-31 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Exposing reporting cycle information
US20130204669A1 (en) * 2012-02-07 2013-08-08 Avenace Incorporated Online exchange for personal data
WO2013009721A1 (en) * 2011-07-08 2013-01-17 Avenace Incorporated Online exchange for personal data
WO2013009920A1 (en) 2011-07-12 2013-01-17 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for a large-scale credit data processing architecture
US20130060702A1 (en) * 2011-09-07 2013-03-07 Qualcomm Incorporated Methods and apparatus for demographics information collection
US8849699B2 (en) * 2011-09-26 2014-09-30 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Systems and methods for targeting ad impressions
US8738516B1 (en) 2011-10-13 2014-05-27 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Debt services candidate locator
GB2495797B (en) 2011-10-19 2013-11-20 Ibm Protecting privacy when communicating with a web server
US11030562B1 (en) 2011-10-31 2021-06-08 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Pre-data breach monitoring
US9053083B2 (en) 2011-11-04 2015-06-09 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Interaction between web gadgets and spreadsheets
US20130117126A1 (en) * 2011-11-07 2013-05-09 Apriva, Llc System and method for secure management of customer data in a loyalty program
US8739271B2 (en) * 2011-12-15 2014-05-27 Verizon Patent And Licensing Inc. Network information collection and access control system
US9900395B2 (en) 2012-01-27 2018-02-20 Comscore, Inc. Dynamic normalization of internet traffic
US8954580B2 (en) 2012-01-27 2015-02-10 Compete, Inc. Hybrid internet traffic measurement using site-centric and panel data
US8943079B2 (en) * 2012-02-01 2015-01-27 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Apparatus and methods for anonymizing a data set
US9665874B2 (en) 2012-03-13 2017-05-30 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Systems and methods for tailoring marketing
US20130246176A1 (en) 2012-03-13 2013-09-19 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Systems and Methods Determining a Merchant Persona
US9853959B1 (en) 2012-05-07 2017-12-26 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Storage and maintenance of personal data
US9071579B1 (en) * 2012-05-25 2015-06-30 T. Gregory Bender System for sender/receiver to send or receive mood related, time sensitive or secretive content/messages
US9363238B2 (en) * 2012-06-04 2016-06-07 Apple Inc. Repackaging demographic data with anonymous identifier
US10607219B2 (en) 2012-06-11 2020-03-31 Visa International Service Association Systems and methods to provide privacy protection for activities related to transactions
US20140019375A1 (en) * 2012-07-12 2014-01-16 Richard Harrison Bailey, Inc. Computing system and computer-implemented method for facilitating the choice of an academic offering
US10332108B2 (en) * 2012-08-01 2019-06-25 Visa International Service Association Systems and methods to protect user privacy
US9633362B2 (en) 2012-09-16 2017-04-25 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. System and method for creating reservations
US10664883B2 (en) 2012-09-16 2020-05-26 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. System and method for monitoring activities in a digital channel
US9654541B1 (en) 2012-11-12 2017-05-16 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Aggregating user web browsing data
US10504132B2 (en) 2012-11-27 2019-12-10 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Dynamic rewards program
US8856894B1 (en) 2012-11-28 2014-10-07 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Always on authentication
US10255598B1 (en) 2012-12-06 2019-04-09 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Credit card account data extraction
US9697263B1 (en) 2013-03-04 2017-07-04 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Consumer data request fulfillment system
US8972400B1 (en) 2013-03-11 2015-03-03 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Profile data management
US9870589B1 (en) 2013-03-14 2018-01-16 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Credit utilization tracking and reporting
US9460310B2 (en) * 2013-03-15 2016-10-04 Pathar, Inc. Method and apparatus for substitution scheme for anonymizing personally identifiable information
US9288184B1 (en) * 2013-05-16 2016-03-15 Wizards Of The Coast Llc Distributed customer data management network handling personally identifiable information
US10664652B2 (en) 2013-06-15 2020-05-26 Microsoft Technology Licensing, Llc Seamless grid and canvas integration in a spreadsheet application
US10102536B1 (en) 2013-11-15 2018-10-16 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Micro-geographic aggregation system
US9529851B1 (en) 2013-12-02 2016-12-27 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Server architecture for electronic data quality processing
US10055747B1 (en) * 2014-01-20 2018-08-21 Acxiom Corporation Consumer Portal
US10262362B1 (en) 2014-02-14 2019-04-16 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Automatic generation of code for attributes
US20150235246A1 (en) * 2014-02-20 2015-08-20 Kenshoo Ltd. Cross-channel audience segmentation
JP6557677B2 (en) 2014-03-10 2019-08-07 ヴィジブル ワールド リミテッド ライアビリティ カンパニー Anonymous behavior based record identification system and method
JP6719800B2 (en) * 2014-04-26 2020-07-08 華為技術有限公司Ｈｕａｗｅｉ Ｔｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｉｅｓ Ｃｏ．，Ｌｔｄ． Communication establishment method, device, and system
US9576030B1 (en) 2014-05-07 2017-02-21 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Keeping up with the joneses
US10395237B2 (en) 2014-05-22 2019-08-27 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Systems and methods for dynamic proximity based E-commerce transactions
US11257117B1 (en) 2014-06-25 2022-02-22 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Mobile device sighting location analytics and profiling system
US10115141B1 (en) * 2014-09-24 2018-10-30 Amazon Technologies, Inc. Secure proxy service
US10242019B1 (en) 2014-12-19 2019-03-26 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. User behavior segmentation using latent topic detection
CA2990959A1 (en) * 2015-06-29 2017-01-05 Gregory T. Bender Method for communicating sensitive incident information and locations to receivers
US11410230B1 (en) 2015-11-17 2022-08-09 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Realtime access and control of secure regulated data
US9767309B1 (en) 2015-11-23 2017-09-19 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Access control system for implementing access restrictions of regulated database records while identifying and providing indicators of regulated database records matching validation criteria
US10757154B1 (en) 2015-11-24 2020-08-25 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Real-time event-based notification system
EP3398311B1 (en) * 2016-03-31 2021-05-26 NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH Method and system for preserving privacy in an http communication between a client and a server
EP3465248B1 (en) * 2016-06-01 2021-09-08 Otonomo Technologies Ltd. Method and system for anonymization and exchange of anonymized data across a network
US11748370B2 (en) 2016-06-01 2023-09-05 Otonomo Technologies Ltd. Method and system for normalizing automotive data
WO2018039377A1 (en) 2016-08-24 2018-03-01 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Disambiguation and authentication of device users
US11126971B1 (en) * 2016-12-12 2021-09-21 Jpmorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Systems and methods for privacy-preserving enablement of connections within organizations
CN110383319B (en) 2017-01-31 2023-05-26 益百利信息解决方案公司 Large scale heterogeneous data ingestion and user resolution
US10467551B2 (en) 2017-06-12 2019-11-05 Ford Motor Company Portable privacy management
US10735183B1 (en) 2017-06-30 2020-08-04 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Symmetric encryption for private smart contracts among multiple parties in a private peer-to-peer network
US10728361B2 (en) 2018-05-29 2020-07-28 Cisco Technology, Inc. System for association of customer information across subscribers
US20200074100A1 (en) 2018-09-05 2020-03-05 Consumerinfo.Com, Inc. Estimating changes to user risk indicators based on modeling of similarly categorized users
US10963434B1 (en) 2018-09-07 2021-03-30 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Data architecture for supporting multiple search models
US20200193454A1 (en) * 2018-12-12 2020-06-18 Qingfeng Zhao Method and Apparatus for Generating Target Audience Data
WO2020146667A1 (en) 2019-01-11 2020-07-16 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for secure data aggregation and computation
US20200336551A1 (en) * 2019-04-16 2020-10-22 Facebook, Inc. Cross-site semi-anonymous tracking
US11334683B2 (en) * 2019-07-25 2022-05-17 Pearson Education, Inc. Method for a multi-country data pipeline to protect personally identifying information
US11539517B2 (en) 2019-09-09 2022-12-27 Cisco Technology, Inc. Private association of customer information across subscribers
US11941065B1 (en) 2019-09-13 2024-03-26 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Single identifier platform for storing entity data
US11682041B1 (en) 2020-01-13 2023-06-20 Experian Marketing Solutions, Llc Systems and methods of a tracking analytics platform
US11935060B1 (en) * 2020-06-30 2024-03-19 United Services Automobile Association (Usaa) Systems and methods based on anonymized data
WO2022075915A1 (en) * 2020-10-06 2022-04-14 Hitachi, Ltd. Method and system for credit assessment
US11893597B2 (en) 2021-03-22 2024-02-06 Royal Bank Of Canada System and method for loading secure data in multiparty secure computing environment
US11880377B1 (en) 2021-03-26 2024-01-23 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Systems and methods for entity resolution
WO2022241551A1 (en) * 2021-05-17 2022-11-24 Royal Bank Of Canada System and method for loading secure data in multiparty secure computing environment
US12086288B1 (en) * 2023-11-14 2024-09-10 Capital One Services, Llc Systems and methods for candidacy determinations and request processing while maintaining user data anonymity

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6058418A (en) * 1997-02-18 2000-05-02 E-Parcel, Llc Marketing data delivery system
US6496931B1 (en) * 1998-12-31 2002-12-17 Lucent Technologies Inc. Anonymous web site user information communication method
US6980962B1 (en) * 1999-03-02 2005-12-27 Quixtar Investments, Inc. Electronic commerce transactions within a marketing system that may contain a membership buying opportunity
US6983379B1 (en) * 2000-06-30 2006-01-03 Hitwise Pty. Ltd. Method and system for monitoring online behavior at a remote site and creating online behavior profiles

Family Cites Families (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5758257A (en) * 1994-11-29 1998-05-26 Herz; Frederick System and method for scheduling broadcast of and access to video programs and other data using customer profiles
US5884272A (en) * 1996-09-06 1999-03-16 Walker Asset Management Limited Partnership Method and system for establishing and maintaining user-controlled anonymous communications
US5961593A (en) * 1997-01-22 1999-10-05 Lucent Technologies, Inc. System and method for providing anonymous personalized browsing by a proxy system in a network
US6128663A (en) * 1997-02-11 2000-10-03 Invention Depot, Inc. Method and apparatus for customization of information content provided to a requestor over a network using demographic information yet the user remains anonymous to the server
FR2777399B1 (en) * 1998-04-09 2000-06-09 Centre Nat Rech Scient METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING A STATIC CONVERTER SUPPLYING A CURRENT SOURCE
US6144988A (en) * 1998-07-23 2000-11-07 Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. Computer system and method for securely formatting and mapping data for internet web sites
US6230188B1 (en) * 1998-12-08 2001-05-08 Infospace, Inc. System and method for providing a proxy identifier in an on-line directory
US6292904B1 (en) 1998-12-16 2001-09-18 International Business Machines Corporation Client account generation and authentication system for a network server
AU2001241609A1 (en) * 2000-02-23 2001-09-03 Capital One Financial Corporation Systems and methods for providing anonymous financial transactions
US7213032B2 (en) * 2000-07-06 2007-05-01 Protigen, Inc. System and method for anonymous transaction in a data network and classification of individuals without knowing their real identity
US20020055912A1 (en) * 2000-10-20 2002-05-09 Byron Buck Network and method for facilitating on-line privacy

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6058418A (en) * 1997-02-18 2000-05-02 E-Parcel, Llc Marketing data delivery system
US6496931B1 (en) * 1998-12-31 2002-12-17 Lucent Technologies Inc. Anonymous web site user information communication method
US6980962B1 (en) * 1999-03-02 2005-12-27 Quixtar Investments, Inc. Electronic commerce transactions within a marketing system that may contain a membership buying opportunity
US6983379B1 (en) * 2000-06-30 2006-01-03 Hitwise Pty. Ltd. Method and system for monitoring online behavior at a remote site and creating online behavior profiles

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US10068252B2 (en) 2011-06-29 2018-09-04 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Targeted and neutral advertising
US9607308B2 (en) * 2011-06-29 2017-03-28 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Spend based digital ad targeting and measurement
US10055759B2 (en) 2011-06-29 2018-08-21 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Systems and methods for digital spend based targeting and measurement
US20130006766A1 (en) * 2011-06-29 2013-01-03 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. Spend Based Digital Ad Targeting and Measurement
US20140025753A1 (en) * 2012-07-19 2014-01-23 Kristoffer Gronowski Method and apparatus for private token communication services
US9032033B2 (en) * 2012-07-19 2015-05-12 Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (Publ) Method and apparatus for private token communication services
WO2015009477A1 (en) * 2013-07-16 2015-01-22 Mastercard International Incorporated Systems and methods for correlating cardholder identity attributes on a payment card network to determine payment card fraud
US20150341322A1 (en) * 2014-05-22 2015-11-26 AVG Netherlands B.V. User privacy protection method and system
WO2015179767A1 (en) * 2014-05-22 2015-11-26 AVG Netherlands B.V. User privacy protection method and system
US9787645B2 (en) * 2014-05-22 2017-10-10 AVG Netherlands B.V. User privacy protection method and system
US11671509B2 (en) * 2018-07-17 2023-06-06 Popdust, Inc. Anonymous eCommerce behavior tracking
US20200234288A1 (en) * 2019-01-17 2020-07-23 Leadpoint, Inc. Systems and methods of securing sensitive data
US11388148B2 (en) * 2020-02-26 2022-07-12 AO Kaspersky Lab System and method of anonymous sending of data from a user device to a recipient device

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US20020099824A1 (en) 2002-07-25
WO2002035314A3 (en) 2003-01-23
US7930252B2 (en) 2011-04-19
AU2002226879A1 (en) 2002-05-06
WO2002035314A2 (en) 2002-05-02

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US7930252B2 (en) Method and system for sharing anonymous user information
JP7514232B2 (en) Cryptographic anonymization for zero-knowledge advertising method, apparatus, and system
US20240005020A1 (en) Decentralized consent network for decoupling the storage of personally identifiable user data from user profiling data
US20210326934A1 (en) User control of anonymized profiling data using public and private blockchains in an electronic ad marketplace
US10600088B2 (en) Targeting online ads based on healthcare demographics
US9595051B2 (en) Systems and methods for providing anonymized user profile data
US8935177B2 (en) Method and system for anonymous measurement of online advertisement using offline sales
JP2021170390A (en) Self-regulation trading system and method thereof, computer readable medium, and program
US7895121B2 (en) Method and system for tracking conversions in a system for targeted data delivery
CN105745903B (en) Apparatus and method for making offline data online while protecting consumer privacy
US8554683B2 (en) Content security for real-time bidding
US20100125505A1 (en) System for broadcast of personalized content
TWI389046B (en) Trusted third party clearing house for lead tracking
US20140372176A1 (en) Method and apparatus for anonymous data profiling
US20050131757A1 (en) System for permission-based communication and exchange of information
CA2716072A1 (en) Privacy-enhanced internet advertising system
US11455651B2 (en) Attribution of conversion made by a client using impression block and conversion block
US20090106098A1 (en) Affiliated advertising widget
JP5520330B2 (en) Information trading system
US20100100448A1 (en) Referral system and method
US20110047141A1 (en) System and method for increasing traffic to websites
JP2013218435A (en) Information transaction system
JP2013174933A (en) Information transaction system
AU2003247258B2 (en) System for permission-based communication and exchange of information
JP2003044731A (en) Method and system for managing information about electronic advertisement

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION

AS Assignment

Owner name: GOOGLE LLC, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: CHANGE OF NAME;ASSIGNOR:GOOGLE INC.;REEL/FRAME:044142/0357

Effective date: 20170929