17798604. PRIVACY-PRESERVING ACTIVITY AGGREGATION MECHANISM simplified abstract (GOOGLE LLC)

From WikiPatents
Jump to navigation Jump to search

PRIVACY-PRESERVING ACTIVITY AGGREGATION MECHANISM

Organization Name

GOOGLE LLC

Inventor(s)

David Bruce Turner of Newark CA (US)

Adrian John Isles of Oakland CA (US)

Philipp Helmut Pfeiffenberger of San Francisco CA (US)

PRIVACY-PRESERVING ACTIVITY AGGREGATION MECHANISM - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 17798604 titled 'PRIVACY-PRESERVING ACTIVITY AGGREGATION MECHANISM

Simplified Explanation

The patent application describes a method for monitoring web activity while preserving user privacy. Here are the key points:

  • The method involves receiving a request for digital content from a user's device.
  • A randomized cohort is assigned to the application on the user's device, which includes a randomly selected identifier and a timestamp indicating when the cohort was assigned.
  • The application is provided with a digitally signed certificate corresponding to the identifier and timestamp, along with a unique public and private key associated with the certificate.
  • The same identifier is also assigned to a threshold number of other applications on different user devices within a certain time period.

Potential applications of this technology:

  • Web activity monitoring: The method allows for monitoring and analyzing user web activity while maintaining privacy.
  • User behavior analysis: The randomized cohorts and identifiers can be used to study user behavior patterns without directly identifying individuals.
  • Ad targeting: The method can be used to deliver targeted advertisements to users based on their web activity, without compromising their privacy.

Problems solved by this technology:

  • Privacy concerns: The method ensures that user privacy is preserved by using randomized cohorts and identifiers instead of directly identifying individuals.
  • Data security: The digitally signed certificates and unique keys provide a secure way to authenticate and verify the applications and their requests.

Benefits of this technology:

  • Enhanced privacy: Users can have their web activity monitored without revealing their personal information.
  • Improved data analysis: The randomized cohorts and identifiers allow for studying user behavior patterns on a larger scale while maintaining privacy.
  • Secure authentication: The use of digitally signed certificates and unique keys ensures the authenticity and integrity of the applications and their requests.


Original Abstract Submitted

This disclosure relates to a method for privacy-preserving web activity monitoring including receiving, from an application on a user device of a user, a request for digital content from a domain, assigning, to the application and at a first time, a randomized cohort constructed based on a randomly selected identifier and a timestamp indicating the first time at which the randomized cohort was assigned to the application, and providing, to the application and at the first time, (i) a digitally signed certificate corresponding to the randomly selected identifier and the timestamp and (ii) a unique public key and corresponding unique private key associated with the certificate, wherein the randomly selected identifier is also assigned to at least a threshold number of other applications executing on other user devices within a predetermined period of time of the assignment of the randomized cohort to the application.

Retrieved from "http://wikipatents.org/index.php?title=17798604._PRIVACY-PRESERVING_ACTIVITY_AGGREGATION_MECHANISM_simplified_abstract_(GOOGLE_LLC)&oldid=25254"