Application based hardware identifiers
First Claim
1. A device for maintaining privacy by preventing tracking of a device across different applications, the device comprising:
- one or more processors; and
one or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon multiple instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;
obtain application information for an application on the device, the application associated with a service provider that provides content or other functionality to the device, the application information comprising an identifier of the application on the device;
obtain device information including information for one or more hardware components of the device;
generate, by a trusted module of the device, an identifier of the device by combining the device information and the application information comprising the identifier of the application on the device, such that the service provider is not able to determine, from the identifier of the device, the device information, the trusted module trusted by the service provider; and
communicate the identifier of the device to the application, wherein the application is configured to subsequently transmit the identifier to the service provider to obtain the content.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An application based hardware identifier is generated for an application on a device. The application based hardware identifier is generated based on both information describing the application and information describing one or more hardware components of the device. The application based hardware identifier can also optionally be based on an identifier of a user of the device. The application based hardware identifier can be provided by the application to a service provider, allowing the service provider to associate the application based hardware identifier with a particular user or user account. However, as the application based hardware identifier is based on the application information, different applications on the same device will have different application based hardware identifiers. The application based hardware identifier thus helps maintain privacy by preventing tracking of the device across different applications.
195 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device for maintaining privacy by preventing tracking of a device across different applications, the device comprising:
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one or more processors; and one or more computer-readable storage media having stored thereon multiple instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to; obtain application information for an application on the device, the application associated with a service provider that provides content or other functionality to the device, the application information comprising an identifier of the application on the device; obtain device information including information for one or more hardware components of the device; generate, by a trusted module of the device, an identifier of the device by combining the device information and the application information comprising the identifier of the application on the device, such that the service provider is not able to determine, from the identifier of the device, the device information, the trusted module trusted by the service provider; and communicate the identifier of the device to the application, wherein the application is configured to subsequently transmit the identifier to the service provider to obtain the content. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method implemented in a service provider for maintaining privacy by preventing tracking of a device across different applications, the method comprising:
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communicating with a device to obtain a device identifier of the device, the device identifier having been generated by a trusted module of the device by combining an application identifier of an application running on the device and device information including information for one or more hardware components of the device, the application associated with the service provider, such that the service provider is not able to determine, from the device identifier, the device information, the service provider providing content or other functionality to the device, the trusted module trusted by the service provider; and using, by the service provider, the device identifier to identify the device to provide the content. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method implemented on a device for maintaining privacy by preventing tracking of a device across different applications, the method comprising:
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receiving, from a service provider, a nonce and a request for a device identifier of the device, the nonce being a value for protecting against replay attacks, the device including multiple components, the service provider providing content or other functionality to an application on the device; requesting the device identifier from a trusted component of the device, and providing the nonce to the trusted component, the trusted component trusted by the service provider; receiving both a device identifier and a digital signature from the trusted component, the digital signature having been generated by digitally signing data including the nonce and the device identifier, the device identifier having been generated by, for each of the multiple hardware components, combining the information for the hardware component and application information comprising an identifier of the application on the device, such that the service provider is not able to determine, from the device identifier, the device information, and generating a hash value by applying a hash function to the combination of the information for the hardware component and the application information; communicating both the device identifier and the digital signature to the service provider to obtain the content. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification