Network client location obscurity

• US 8,494,549 B1
• Filed: 02/18/2009
• Issued: 07/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Mateski, Christopher J., Bertz, Lyle T., Pillai, Saveeta, Grimbergen, Elizabeth P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nair, Sowmini
• Application Number:
  US12/388,017
• Time in Patent Office: 1,616 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/457, 455/422.1, 455/403, 4554562-4566
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A service may request the location of a network client in order to deliver advertisements for goods and services that are geographically near the client. It is desirable for the network to provide an obscured, or approximate, location to protect the privacy of the client. The network queries the client for its PN list. From the PN list, the network determines the active cell sectors and active cell towers. The network determines all cell sectors associated with the active cell towers, and excludes the sectors that encompass the client. From the non-excluded sectors, a cell sector is randomly selected. A geographic location is randomly selected from within the cell sector. A region that encompasses the geographic location is determined, and an identifier associated with the region, such as a ZIP code, is sent to the service. The exact location of the client cannot be determined from the regional identifier.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-useable instructions operating on a computing device for performing a method of providing location information about a network client to a service, wherein an exact location of the network client is obscured, the method comprising:

receiving a list of active cell sectors from the network client wherein an active cell sector is one with which the network client is communicating and wherein the active cell sectors are included in a coverage by one or more cell sites;

randomly selecting a candidate cell sector wherein the candidate cell sector does not geographically encompass the exact location of the network client and wherein the candidate cell sector is included in the coverage by the one or more cell sites;

randomly selecting a geographic location within the candidate cell sector;

determining a regional identifier for the geographic location wherein the regional identifier specifies a region that encompasses the geographic location; and

sending the regional identifier to the service, thereby providing an obscured location of the network client, such that the exact location of the network client cannot be determined from the regional identifier.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein randomly selecting a candidate cell sector comprises:

determining the one or more cell sites, based on the list of active cell sectors;

determining a group comprising the active cell sectors and non-active cell sectors included in the one or more cell sites;

designating one or more cell sectors from the group as candidate cell sectors, wherein a candidate cell sector does not geographically encompass the exact location of the network client; and

randomly selecting one of the candidate cell sectors.

3. The media of claim 2, wherein the location information is provided in response to a query from the service.

4. The media of claim 3, wherein the regional identifier is a ZIP code.

5. The media of claim 4, further comprising deleting data associated with the location information.

6. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-useable instructions operating on a computing device for performing a method of selecting a region physically located near a network client of a cellular network, wherein the region does not identify an exact location of the network client, the method comprising:

determining one or more active cell towers with which the network client is communicating;

determining a plurality of cell sectors associated with the one or more active cell towers;

excluding, from the plurality of cell sectors, cell sectors that geographically encompass the exact location of the network client, thereby providing one or more non-excluded cell sectors that do not geographically encompass the exact location of the network client;

randomly selecting a candidate cell sector from the one or more non-excluded cell sectors that do not geographically encompass the exact location of the network client, thereby providing the candidate cell sector that does not geographically encompass the exact location of the network client;

randomly selecting a geographic location within the candidate cell sector that does not geographically encompass the exact location of the network client; and

determining a regional identifier for the geographic location, wherein the regional identifier identifies the region, and wherein the region encompasses the geographic location, such that the exact location of the network client cannot be determined from the regional identifier.

7. The media of claim 6, wherein determining the one or more active cell towers comprises requesting, from the network client, a list of one or more active cell sectors with which the network client is communicating.

8. The media of claim 7, wherein determining the one or more active cell towers comprises receiving, from the network client, the list of the one or more active cell sectors, wherein an active cell sector is associated with an active cell tower.

9. The media of claim 8, wherein the regional identifier is a ZIP code.

10. The media of claim 9 further comprising deleting data associated with the exact location of the network client.

11. The media of claim 10, further comprising receiving a request for a location of the network client from a service.

12. The media of claim 11, further comprising communicating the regional identifier to the service.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-useable instructions operating on a computing device for performing a method of providing an approximate location of a client in a cellular network, the method comprising:

receiving a list of active cell sectors from the client wherein an active cell sector is one with which the client is communicating and wherein the active cell sectors are included in a coverage by one or more cell sites;

determining one or more active cell towers with which the client is communicating;

selecting one or more candidate cell sectors, wherein the one or more candidate cell sectors are selected from a group of cell sectors associated with the one or more active cell towers;

randomly selecting a candidate cell sector from the one or more candidate cell sectors, wherein the candidate cell sector does not geographically encompass an exact location of the network client and wherein the candidate cell sector is included in the coverage by the one or more cell sites;

randomly selecting a geographic location within the candidate cell sector;

determining a regional identifier that specifies a region that encompasses the randomly-selected geographic location, wherein an exact location of the client cannot be determined from the regional identifier; and

providing the regional identifier to a service in response to a request from the service for a location of the client, wherein the regional identifier is provided instead of the location of the client.

14. The media of claim 13, further comprising querying the client for the list of active cell sectors with which the client is communicating.

15. The media of claim 14, further comprising determining the group of cell sectors associated with the one or more active cell towers based on the list of active cell sectors.

16. The media of claim 15, wherein the one or more candidate cell sectors do not geographically encompass the exact location of the client.

17. The media of claim 16, further comprising receiving the request for the location of the client from the service and providing the regional identifier as the approximate location of the client to the service in response to the request.

18. The media of claim 17, wherein the regional identifier is a ZIP code.

19. The media of claim 18, further comprising deleting data associated with the approximate location.