Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and information processing system

• US 10,114,959 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2016
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Kakii, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Giddins, Nelson
• Application Number:
  US15/150,767
• Publication Number:
  US 20160342813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 903 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification

Abstract

An information processing apparatus includes a first memory that stores a registered identification name of a user who is eligible to use the information processing apparatus and first publishable information indicating whether or not the registered identification name of the user is publishable, circuitry that determines whether the first publishable information indicates that the registered identification name of the user is publishable, and generates usage history information of the user using the registered identification name based on a determination indicating that the registered identification name of the user is publishable or using an anonymized identification name based on a determination indicating that the registered identification name of the user is not publishable, and a second memory that stores the generated usage history information.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising:

a first memory to store, for each registered user amongst one or more registered users, a registered identification name of the registered user who is eligible to use the information processing apparatus and first publishable information indicating whether or not the registered identification name of the registered user is publishable;

circuitry to

determine whether the first publishable information of a specified user indicates that the registered identification name of the specified user is publishable,

generate a random number code in a case of a determination that the registered identification name of the specified user is not publishable, and generate an anonymized identification name constituted by a predetermined string concatenated to the random number code, and

generate usage history information of the specified user using the registered identification name of the specified user in a case of a determination that the registered identification name of the specified user is publishable or using the anonymized identification name constituted by the predetermined string concatenated to the random number code in the case of the determination that the registered identification name of the specified user is not publishable; and

a second memory to store the generated usage history information.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first memory further stores a handle name of the registered user and second publishable information indicating whether or not the handle name of the registered user is publishable in a case that the first publishable information of the registered user indicates that the registered identification information of the registered user is not publishable, and

the circuitry uses, as the anonymized identification name, the handle name in a case of a determination indicating that the second publishable information indicates that the handle name is publishable, and uses the predetermined string concatenated to the random number code in a case of a determination that the second publishable information indicates that the handle name is unpublishable.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry generates another anonymized name when the anonymized identification name constituted by the predetermined string concatenated to the random number code has already been stored in the first memory.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the registered identification name, the first publishable information, the handle name, and the second publishable information are registered in the first memory as user information of the registered user, and

when the user information is registered or modified, the circuitry automatically generates the random number code to be used as a user identification name of the specified user, in a case of a determination that the first publishable information and the second publishable information both indicate not to allow to be published.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry generates the random number code as a user identification name of the specified user every time the specified user is being authenticated.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a user interface to accept a user selection of whether or not to publish the registered identification name.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a transmitter to transmit the usage history information including the anonymized identification name as the user identification name of the specified user to an external apparatus in the case that the first publishable information indicates that the registered identification name is not publishable.

8. A method of processing information, performed by an information processing apparatus, comprising:

storing, for each of one or more registered users, a registered identification name of the registered user who is eligible to use the information processing apparatus and first publishable information indicating whether or not the registered identification name of the registered user is publishable in a first memory;

determining whether the first publishable information of a specified user indicates that the registered identification name of the specified user is publishable;

generating a random number code in a case of a determination indicating that the registered identification name of the specified user is not publishable, and generating an anonymized identification name constituted by a predetermined string concatenated to the random number code;

generating usage history information of the specified user using the registered identification name of the specified user in a case of a determination that the registered identification name of the specified user is publishable or using an anonymized identification name constituted by the predetermined string concatenated to the random number code in the case of the determination that the registered identification name of the specified user is not publishable; and

storing the generated usage history information in a second memory.

9. An information processing system comprising the an information processing apparatus, the system comprising:

one or more storage devices, a storage device amongst the one or more storage devices storing, for each registered user amongst one or more registered users, a registered identification name of the registered user who is eligible to use the information processing apparatus and first publishable information indicating whether or not the registered identification name of the registered user is publishable;

an information processing apparatus comprising a processor configured by execution of a program stored in a non-transitory medium to perform a method comprising;

obtaining the first publishable information of a specified user from the storage device and determining whether the first publishable information of a specified user indicates that the registered identification name of the specified user is publishable;

generating a random number code in a case of a determination indicating that the registered identification name of the specified user is not publishable, and generating an anonymized identification name constituted by a predetermined string concatenated to a random number;

generating usage history information of the specified user using the registered identification name of the specified user in a case of a determination that the registered identification name of the specified user is publishable or using the anonymized identification name constituted by the predetermined string concatenated to the random number code in the case of the determination that the registered identification name of the specified user is not publishable; and

storing the generated usage history information in the storage device or another storage device amongst the one or more storage devices.