EVENT PROCESSING SYSTEM

• US 20180268167A1
• Filed: 06/01/2017
• Published: 09/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2017
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Meltwater News International Holdings GmbH (Meltwater NV)
• Original Assignee: Mediasift Limited (Meltwater NV)
• Inventors: ALBERTON, Lorenzo, BASTIAN, Alistair Joseph, BUDDEN, Timothy David
• Application Number:
  US15/611,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20180268167A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2457 with adaptation to user needs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90335 Query processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking

Abstract

User events of a platform are processed to extract aggregate information about users of the platform at an event processing system. A query relating to the user events is received at the system and at least one query parameter is determined from the query. Various privacy controls are disclosed for ensuring that any information released in response to the query cannot be used to identify users individually or to infer information about individual users.

Claims

1. A method of processing user events of a platform to extract aggregate information about users of the platform, the method comprising, at an event processing system:

receiving a query relating to the user events;

determining at least one query parameter from the query;

computing a unique user count for a set of the user events satisfying the at least one query parameter;

comparing the unique user count to a metering threshold; and

rejecting the query if the unique user count exceeds a maximum permitted user count indicated by the metering threshold.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the unique user count that is compared to the metering threshold is estimated from a representative sample of the user events in an index.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein if the unique user count does not exceed the maximum permitted user count, the unique user count is re-computed from a larger number of the user events in the index.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the re-computed user count is compared with a gating threshold, wherein the query is rejected if the re-computed user count is less than a minimum permitted user count indicated by the gating threshold and accepted otherwise.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the unique user count is re-computed from all of the user events in the index.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the metering threshold is set as a function of a global unique user count for the platform.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the maximum permitted user count is set as a percentage of the global unique user count for the platform.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the metering threshold is set in dependence on a statistical analysis of the user events.

9. A method of processing user events of a platform to extract aggregate information about users of the platform, the method comprising, at an event processing system:

receiving a query relating the user events;

determining at least one query parameter from the query;

generating at least one count for a set of the user events satisfying the at least one query parameter; and

applying quantization to the at least one count to generate at least one quantized count for release, the quantized count being one of a plurality of permitted quantized values, wherein the quantization has a variable quantization range, the quantization range being the difference between adjacent pairs of the permitted quantized values.

10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the quantization range increases for larger permitted quantized values.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the quantization range increases linearly with respect to the permitted quantized values.

12. A method according to claim 9, wherein the quantization range is set as a function of the at least one query parameter.

13. A method of processing user events of a platform to extract aggregate information about users of the platform, the method comprising, at an event processing system:

receiving a query relating to the user events;

determining at least one query parameter from the query;

computing a unique user count for a set of the user events satisfying the query parameter;

setting a variable release threshold for the query as a function of the at least one query parameter; and

comparing the unique user count with the release threshold set for the query to determine whether to release information about the set of user events in response to the query.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the release threshold is a gating threshold and the query is rejected if the unique user count is less than a minimum permitted user count indicated by the gating threshold set for the query, whereby the minimum permitted user count depends on the at least one query parameter.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the at least one query parameter comprises a user attribute, the variable gating threshold being set as a function of the user attribute.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the release threshold is a redaction threshold for one of a plurality of buckets, the comparing step performed to determine whether to redact that bucket.

17. An event processing system for processing user events of a platform to extract aggregate information about users of the platform, the event processing system comprising:

computer storage holding executable instructions; and

one or more processing units configured to execute those instructions to carry out the following steps;

receiving a query relating to the user events;

determining at least one query parameter from the query;

computing a unique user count for a set of the user events satisfying the at least one query parameter;

comparing the unique user count to a metering threshold; and

rejecting the query if the unique user count exceeds a maximum permitted user count indicated by the metering threshold.

18. An event processing system according to claim 17, wherein the unique user count that is compared to the metering threshold is estimated from a representative sample of the user events in an index.

19. An event processing system according to claim 18, wherein if the unique user count does not exceed the maximum permitted user count, the unique user count is re-computed from a larger number of the user events in the index.

20. A computer program product for processing user events of a platform to extract aggregate information about users of the platform, the computer program product comprising executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium and configured, when executed at an event processing system, to carry out the following steps:

receiving a query relating to the user events;

determining at least one query parameter from the query;

computing a unique user count for a set of the user events satisfying the at least one query parameter;

comparing the unique user count to a metering threshold; and

rejecting the query if the unique user count exceeds a maximum permitted user count indicated by the metering threshold.