METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PERSISTENT CROSS-APPLICATION MOBILE DEVICE IDENTIFICATION

• US 20130273879A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 10/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The 41st Parameter, Inc. (Experian plc)
• Original Assignee: The 41st Parameter, Inc. (Experian plc)
• Inventors: Eisen, Ori, Yalov, Raz
• Granted Patent: US 9,521,551 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/405
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/73 by creating or determining hardware identification, e.g. serial numbers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2129 Authenticate client device independently of the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/086 using security domains

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for persistent cross-application mobile device identification. A mobile device may have a plurality of sandboxes in memory containing applications. The mobile device may have a shared storage which may accessible by applications from different sandboxes. A storage location identifier may be used to access information in shared storage. A universal device identifier may be stored in the shared storage to identify the mobile device and may be accessible by multiple applications and updates to applications. The universal device identifier may be used to track the mobile device for advertising, fraud detection, reputation tracking, or other purposes.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a mobile device, comprising:

determining, with aid of a processor, whether a universal device identifier of the mobile device exists on the mobile device;

generating the universal device identifier to identify the mobile device in response to a determination that the universal device identifier does not on the mobile device;

storing the universal device identifier in a persistent shared storage on the mobile device;

retrieving the universal device identifier from the persistent shared storage; and

making available the identifier to a plurality of applications installed on the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of applications installed on the mobile devices belong to different sandboxes in a memory of the device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing business logic using the universal device identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating a storage location identifier providing access to the universal device identifier in the persistent shared storage.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein retrieving the universal device identifier occurs via the storage location identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the universal device identifier is an alphanumeric string.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising performing advertisement tracking of the mobile device using the universal device identifier.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising sharing information between the plurality of applications installed on the mobile device, with aid of the universal device identifier.

9. A system for identifying a mobile device, comprising:

a memory having (a) a plurality of application sandboxes, an individual sandbox having at least one application therein, and (b) a shared storage; and

a processor capable of executing steps defined by the plurality of applications, wherein the applications are capable of accessing information within the shared storage via a storage location identifier, and the applications are not capable of accessing information from other sandboxes.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a shared storage manager controlling the applications'"'"' access to the shared storage.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the shared storage manager controls access with aid of the storage location identifier that uniquely identifies the location in the shared storage of data accessible by the applications.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the storage location identifier is an alphanumeric string.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein an individual sandbox of said plurality is a secure memory space on the mobile device in which an associated application is confined and prevented from accessing data and resources in other sandboxes.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising an operating system that manages the sandboxes and determines resources that the applications are prevented from accessing.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the shared storage includes a universal device identifier identifying the mobile device and accessible by applications from a plurality of sandboxes.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the universal device identifier is accessible via the storage location identifier for the universal device identifier.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the universal device identifier is an alphanumeric string unique to the device.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the universal device identifier incorporates the time of creation of the universal device identifier.

19. A method of identifying a mobile device, comprising:

providing a memory having (a) a plurality of application sandboxes, an individual sandbox having at least one application therein, and (b) a shared storage;

providing a processor capable of executing steps defined by the plurality of applications;

permitting the applications to access information within the shared storage via a storage location identifier, while not permitting the applications to access information from other sandboxes, wherein the information within the shared storage accessed by the applications includes a universal device identifier; and

performing advertisement tracking of the mobile device using the universal device identifier.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein performing advertising tracking includes following usage patterns of the mobile device across applications.