Methods and apparatus for providing privacy-preserving global customization
First Claim
1. A method for use in a distributed data network wherein a user may request and receive content from one or more entities in the distributed data network, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing one or more mechanisms for enabling at least one of the user and one or more of the entities to control which entities in the distributed data network have access to information generated in association with the user'"'"'s activity on the distributed data network, wherein the user specifies at least one role and, based on the created role, at least one profile for the user is maintained by one or more of the entities in the form of information inserted into the profile by one or more of the entities, the information representing the user'"'"'s activity on the distributed data network with respect to the one or more entities that inserted the information, such that profile maintenance is substantially transparent to the user; and
customizing content to be received by the user in accordance with at least a portion of the information in the user profile;
wherein the step of providing the one or more control mechanisms for the user comprises the step of enabling the user to specify two or more roles within which the user may perform activities on the distributed data network, wherein the two or more roles have two or more profiles respectively associated therewith, and wherein the two or more profiles are substantially unlinkable.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques and infrastructure are provided for supporting global customization. The invention enables persona profiles of user information to be maintained, and such persona profiles to be accessed by merchants. Via the persona abstraction, users control what information is grouped into a persona profile, and can selectively enable a merchant to read one of these profiles. The infrastructure of the invention employs a persona server that assists users in managing their personae. The infrastructure of the invention separates this from the profile databases at which persona profile information is stored, to eliminate any single point at which different persona profiles can be tied to the same user. Since merchants also have privacy concerns, the infrastructure of the invention provides a data protection model based on tainting, by which merchants can limit how the information they contribute can be exposed.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for use in a distributed data network wherein a user may request and receive content from one or more entities in the distributed data network, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing one or more mechanisms for enabling at least one of the user and one or more of the entities to control which entities in the distributed data network have access to information generated in association with the user'"'"'s activity on the distributed data network, wherein the user specifies at least one role and, based on the created role, at least one profile for the user is maintained by one or more of the entities in the form of information inserted into the profile by one or more of the entities, the information representing the user'"'"'s activity on the distributed data network with respect to the one or more entities that inserted the information, such that profile maintenance is substantially transparent to the user; and customizing content to be received by the user in accordance with at least a portion of the information in the user profile; wherein the step of providing the one or more control mechanisms for the user comprises the step of enabling the user to specify two or more roles within which the user may perform activities on the distributed data network, wherein the two or more roles have two or more profiles respectively associated therewith, and wherein the two or more profiles are substantially unlinkable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 9)
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5. A method for use in a distributed data network wherein a user may request and receive content from one or more entities in the distributed data network, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing one or more mechanisms for enabling at least one of the user and one or more of the entities to control which entities in the distributed data network have access to information generated in association with the user'"'"'s activity on the distributed data network, wherein the user specifies at least one role and, based on the created role, at least one profile for the user is maintained by one or more of the entities in the form of information inserted into the profile by one or more of the entities, the information representing the user'"'"'s activity on the distributed data network with respect to the one or more entities that inserted the information, such that profile maintenance is substantially transparent to the user; and customizing content to be received by the user in accordance with at least a portion of the information in the user profile; wherein the step of providing the one or more control mechanisms for the one or more entities comprises the step of enabling the one or more entities to specify which other entities are able to access information that the one or more entities learned in association with the user conducting activities with the one or more entities. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification