METHODS, APPARATUS, SYSTEMS AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUMS FOR ANONYMIZED IDENTIFICATION OF PAYMENT CARD ACCOUNTS BELONGING TO A SAME ENTITY

• US 20150088752A1
• Filed: 09/20/2013
• Published: 03/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Mastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
• Inventors: Howe, Justin Xavier
• Application Number:
  US14/032,580
• Publication Number:
  US 20150088752A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, by a processing device, data representing a plurality of payment card transactions made in association with payment card accounts, the data including personally identifiable information; anonymizing, by a processing device, the data by hashing the personally identifiable information; determining, by a processing device, a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information; and identifying, by a processing device, the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a processing device, data representing a plurality of payment card transactions made in association with payment card accounts, the data including personally identifiable information;

anonymizing, by a processing device, the data by hashing the personally identifiable information;

determining, by a processing device, a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information; and

identifying, by a processing device, the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving data representing a plurality of payment card transactions comprises:

receiving a plurality of records each representing a respective one of the plurality of payment card transactions, each one of the plurality of records including;

a payment card account number associated with the payment card account represented by the one of the plurality of records; and

personally identifiable information associated with a cardholder associated with the payment card account represented by the one of the plurality of records.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the personally identifiable information included in each one of the plurality of records comprises:

a name of the cardholder; and

at least one of;

a full address associated with the cardholder;

a condensed address associated with the cardholder;

a postal code associated with the cardholder;

a loyalty card number associated with the cardholder;

or

a name of a passenger on a ticket for travel purchased using the one of the plurality of payment card transactions represented by the one of the plurality of records.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the anonymizing the data by hashing the personally identifiable information comprises:

for each record of the plurality of records;

extracting the payment card account number and the personally identifiable information from the record;

hashing the extracted personally identifiable information; and

associating the one of the plurality of payment card account numbers extracted from the record with the hashed personally identifiable information;

wherein the hashed personally identifiable information includes;

a hashed value for the name of the cardholder; and

at least one of;

a hashed value for the full address;

a hashed value for the condensed address;

a hashed value for a postal code;

a hashed value for a loyalty card number;

or

a hashed value for the name of the passenger name.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a full address associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a full address associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a condensed address associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a condensed address associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a postal code associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a postal code associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for loyalty card number associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a loyalty card number code associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a full address; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a full address, as belonging to a same household.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a condensed address; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a condensed address, as belonging to a same household.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that if executed by a machine result in a method comprising:

receiving data representing a plurality of payment card transactions made in association with payment card accounts, the data including personally identifiable information;

anonymizing the data by hashing the personally identifiable information;

determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information; and

identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity.

12. The medium of claim 11, wherein the receiving data representing a plurality of payment card transactions comprises:

receiving a plurality of records each representing a respective one of the plurality of payment card transactions, each one of the plurality of records including;

a payment card account number associated with the payment card account represented by the one of the plurality of records; and

personally identifiable information associated with a cardholder associated with the payment card account represented by the one of the plurality of records.

13. The medium of claim 12, wherein the personally identifiable information included in each one of the plurality of records comprises:

a name of the cardholder; and

at least one of;

a full address associated with the cardholder;

a condensed address associated with the cardholder;

a postal code associated with the cardholder;

a loyalty card number associated with the cardholder;

or

a name of a passenger on a ticket for travel purchased using the one of the plurality of payment card transactions represented by the one of the plurality of records.

14. The medium of claim 13, wherein the anonymizing the data by hashing the personally identifiable information comprises:

for each record of the plurality of records;

extracting the payment card account number and the personally identifiable information from the record;

hashing the extracted personally identifiable information; and

associating the one of the plurality of payment card account numbers extracted from the record with the hashed personally identifiable information;

wherein the hashed personally identifiable information includes;

a hashed value for the name of the cardholder; and

at least one of;

a hashed value for the full address;

a hashed value for the condensed address;

a hashed value for a postal code;

a hashed value for a loyalty card number;

or

a hashed value for the name of the passenger name.

15. The medium of claim 13, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a full address associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a full address associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

16. The medium of claim 13, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a condensed address associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a condensed address associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

17. The medium of claim 13, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a postal code associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a postal code associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

18. The medium of claim 13, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for loyalty card number associated with the cardholder; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with;

(i) a same hashed value for the name of the cardholder and (ii) a same hashed value for a loyalty card number code associated with the cardholder, as belonging to a same cardholder.

19. The medium of claim 13, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a full address; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a full address, as belonging to a same household.

20. The medium of claim 13, wherein the determining a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information comprises:

determining ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a condensed address; and

wherein the identifying the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity comprises;

identifying the determined ones of the plurality of payment account numbers that are associated with a same hashed value for a condensed address, as belonging to a same household.

21. A system comprising:

a processing device to receive data representing a plurality of payment card transactions made in association with payment card accounts, the data including personally identifiable information;

a processing device to anonymize the data by hashing the personally identifiable information;

a processing device to determine a plurality of the payment card accounts that belong to a same entity based on the hashed personally identifiable information without decoding the hashed personally identifiable information to recover the personally identifiable information; and

a processing device to identify the determined plurality of payment card accounts as belonging to the same entity.