PRIVACY-PRESERVING LOCATION TRACKING FOR DEVICES
First Claim
1. A system for uploading and storing a plurality of information data files on a remote storage in association with a corresponding plurality of different indices, wherein each information data file includes location information that is indicative of a location of an electronic device, comprising:
- (a) a location module that is executed on the electronic device and determines the location information for the electronic device;
(b) a core module that is executed on the electronic device and which determines a plurality of different states for the core module over time, each state being determined by the core module as a function of a previous state and being used by the core module to determine an index that will be associated with a current information data file when the current information data file is stored on the remote storage, the core module thereby storing a succession of indices and corresponding information data files on the remote storage over time; and
(c) a retrieval module that can be executed on a different device, the retrieval module using an initial state for the core module to determine the plurality of different states, so that an index that was associated with a desired information data file when the desired information data file was stored on the remote storage can be determined by the retrieval module, enabling the desired information data file to be retrieved from the remote storage, to access the location information and any other information included therein that is indicative of the location of the electronic device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A privacy-preserving device-tracking system and method to assist in the recovery of lost or stolen Internet-connected mobile devices. The function of such a system seem contradictory, since it is desirable to hide a device'"'"'s legitimately-visited locations from third-party services and other parties to achieve location privacy, while still enabling recovery of the device'"'"'s location(s) after it goes missing by tracking the device to determine its location. An exemplary embodiment uses a DHT for storing encrypted location information and other forensic information in connection with indices that are successively determined based on initial pseudorandom seed information (i.e., state) that is retained by the owner of the device. Using the seed information, the software can determine indices mapped to location information stored after the device went missing, enabling the device to be located. Numerous extensions are discussed for the basic exemplary design that increase its suitability for particular deployment environments.
-
Citations
49 Claims
-
1. A system for uploading and storing a plurality of information data files on a remote storage in association with a corresponding plurality of different indices, wherein each information data file includes location information that is indicative of a location of an electronic device, comprising:
-
(a) a location module that is executed on the electronic device and determines the location information for the electronic device; (b) a core module that is executed on the electronic device and which determines a plurality of different states for the core module over time, each state being determined by the core module as a function of a previous state and being used by the core module to determine an index that will be associated with a current information data file when the current information data file is stored on the remote storage, the core module thereby storing a succession of indices and corresponding information data files on the remote storage over time; and (c) a retrieval module that can be executed on a different device, the retrieval module using an initial state for the core module to determine the plurality of different states, so that an index that was associated with a desired information data file when the desired information data file was stored on the remote storage can be determined by the retrieval module, enabling the desired information data file to be retrieved from the remote storage, to access the location information and any other information included therein that is indicative of the location of the electronic device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A computer-readable memory medium on which are stored machine readable instructions for carrying out a plurality of functions to store a plurality of information data files on a remote storage in association with a corresponding plurality of different indices, wherein each information data file includes location information that is indicative of a location of an electronic device on which the machine readable instructions are being executed, the plurality of functions including:
-
(a) determining location information indicative of a current location of the electronic device; and (b) determining a plurality of different states over time, each state being determined as a function of a previous state and being used to determine an index that is associated with a current information data file when the current information data file is stored on the remote storage, a succession of indices and corresponding information data files being thereby stored on the remote storage over time, with each index being mapped to a different information data file on the remote storage. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 34)
-
-
23. A method for uploading and storing a plurality of information data files on a remote storage in association with a corresponding plurality of different indices, wherein each information data file includes location information that is indicative of a location of an electronic device that is storing the information data files of the remote storage, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) determining location information indicative of a current location of the electronic device; and (b) determining a plurality of different states over time, each state being determined as a function of a previous state and being used to determine an index that will be associated with a current information data file when the current information data file is stored on the remote storage, a succession of indices and corresponding information data files being thereby stored on the remote storage over time, so that each index is mapped to a different information data file on the remote storage, each information data file including location information for the electronic devices at different times. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
-
41. Apparatus for storing location information for the apparatus on a remote storage in connection with a succession of indices, each index in the succession of indices being associated with a different information data file, comprising:
-
(a) a memory in which are stored machine executable instructions; (b) a network interface for communicating over a network; (c) a processor in communication with the memory and the network interface, the processor executing the machine executable instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including; (i) determining location information indicative of a current location of the electronic device; (ii) determining a plurality of states over time, each state being determined as a function of a previous state and being used to determine an index that will be associated with a current information data file when the current location data file is stored on the remote storage, so that a succession of indices and corresponding information data files can be stored on the remote storage over time; (iii) at different times, communicating with the remote storage using the network interface, and storing the succession of indices and their associated information data files on the remote storage. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
-
Specification