Methods and systems for managing services and device data

• US 9,626,503 B2
• Filed: 12/31/2012
• Issued: 04/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Jung, Edward K. Y., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Richard T., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dada, Beemnet
• Application Number:
  US13/731,641
• Publication Number:
  US 20140123298A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,569 Days
• Field of Search: 726 26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication

Abstract

Computationally implemented methods and systems include acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices, generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices, presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services, and acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data. In addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text.

Claims

1. A computationally-implemented method of obscuring property data of devices to allow service providers to generate one or more services prior to receiving the property data, said method comprising:

acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices;

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices;

presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services; and

acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data, said acquiring the generated one or more services including;

offering deanonymizing data that includes a lookup table, wherein the lookup table is configured to allow replacement of non-identifying data of the anonymized data with data that uniquely identifies at least one of the one or more devices on which the anonymized data is based, to a particular service provider that generated the particular service, in exchange for receiving a particular service of the one or more generated services.

2. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices comprises:

receiving property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices.

3. The computationally-implemented method of claim 2, wherein said receiving property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices comprises:

receiving, from a social networking site used by the one or more devices, property data regarding at least one property of the one or more devices.

4. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices comprises:

monitoring data traffic of the one or more devices; and

gathering property data regarding at least one property of the one or more devices from the monitored data traffic.

5. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices comprises:

acquiring property data regarding a presence of one or more sensors on one or more devices.

6. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices comprises:

acquiring property data regarding how many devices of a set of devices meet a particular criterion.

7. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data, which includes one or more contact lists of one or more devices and one or more device identifiers for the one or more devices, to obscure the device identifiers that uniquely identify the one or more devices.

8. The computationally-implemented method of claim 7, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data, which includes one or more contact lists of one or more devices and one or more device identifiers for the one or more devices, to obscure the device identifiers that uniquely identify the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data, which includes one or more contact lists of one or more devices and one or more device identifiers for the one or more devices, to obscure the device identifiers by replacing the first character of the one or more device identifiers with a character from a lookup table, to obscure the device identifiers that uniquely identify the one or more devices.

9. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices.

10. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the users of the one or more devices.

11. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to remove one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or users of the one or more devices.

12. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by aggregating the acquired property data to obscure a portion of the acquired property data that uniquely identifies the one or more devices and/or users of the one or more devices.

13. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by removing a link between the acquired property data and a unique identification of the one or more devices that generated the acquired property data.

14. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by adding the acquired property data to previously acquired property data and removing data indicating the relationship between the one or more devices and one or more specific portions of the property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices.

15. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to encrypt one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or users of the one or more devices.

16. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data by applying a reversible data transformation algorithm to one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or users of the one or more devices.

17. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices comprises:

generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data by replacing one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or users of the one or more devices with data having a similar format as uniquely identifying data that uniquely identifies the one or more devices and/or users.

18. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services comprises:

transmitting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services.

19. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services comprises:

presenting a visual exchange interface configured to be accessed by the one or more service providers, wherein the visual exchange interface is configured to allow the one or more service providers to view a representation of the anonymized data.

20. The computationally-implemented method of claim 19, wherein said presenting a visual exchange interface configured to be accessed by the one or more service providers, wherein the visual exchange interface is configured to allow the one or more service providers to view a representation of the anonymized data comprises:

presenting a visual exchange interface configured to be accessed by the one or more service providers, wherein the visual exchange interface comprises one or more graphical representations of the anonymized data.

21. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services comprises:

presenting the anonymized data to an auction-style interface configured to allow the one or more service providers to place one or more bids for access to the anonymized data.

22. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services comprises:

receiving a request from a service provider for particular anonymized data;

determining whether the generated anonymized data is configured to fulfill the requested particular anonymized data; and

transmitting the generated anonymized data based on the determination regarding the generated anonymized data.

23. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services comprises:

presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate the one or more services, wherein said one or more service providers have previously registered to receive presentations of various anonymous data.

24. The computationally-implemented method of claim 23, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate the one or more services, wherein said one or more service providers have previously registered to receive presentations of various anonymous data comprises:

presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate the one or more services, wherein said one or more service providers have previously registered to receive presentations of various anonymous data that has a property in common with the generated anonymized data.

25. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services comprises:

receiving a request from one or more service providers to receive the anonymized data; and

selecting one or more service providers to which the anonymized data is configured to be presented.

26. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services comprises:

transmitting a portion of the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services; and

transmitting a remainder of the anonymized data to the one or more services upon receipt of an indication that the one or more service providers request the remainder of the anonymized data.

27. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data comprises:

receiving the generated one or more services from the one or more service providers, said generated services at least partly based on the anonymous data.

28. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data comprises:

polling one or more service providers to determine a presence of generated one or more services; and

acquiring at least one of the generated one or more services from the polled one or more service providers.

29. The computationally-implemented method of claim 28, wherein said acquiring at least one of the generated one or more services from the polled one or more service providers comprises:

acquiring at least one of the generated one or more services from the polled one or more service providers, at least partly based on a portion of the one or more devices to which the one or more services require access.

30. The computationally-implemented method of claim 29, wherein said acquiring at least one of the generated one or more services from the polled one or more service providers, at least partly based on a portion of the one or more devices to which the one or more services require access comprises:

acquiring at least one of the generated one or more services from the polled one or more service providers, at least partly based on the one or more services requiring access to a portion of the one or more devices to which access is indicated as valuable.

31. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data comprises:

receiving the generated one or more services, said generated services at least partly based on the anonymized data; and

selecting a particular service of the generated one or more services.

32. The computationally-implemented method of claim 31, wherein said selecting a particular service of the generated one or more services comprises:

selecting a particular service of the generated one or more services at least partly based on an analysis of data from the one or more devices that may be obtained if the one or more devices accept the particular services.

33. The computationally-implemented method of claim 31, wherein said selecting a particular service of the generated one or more services comprises:

selecting a particular service of the generated one or more services that is at least partly based on a valuation of data from the one or more devices that is configured to be obtained when the one or more devices accept the particular service.

34. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data comprises:

offering deanonymizing data configured to uniquely identify the one or more devices on which the anonymized data is based, to a particular service provider that generated the particular service, in exchange for receiving permission to offer the particular service of the one or more generated services to the one or more devices.

35. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data comprises:

acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated services at least partly based on anonymized data indicating a type of the one or more devices.

36. The computationally-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data comprises:

acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated services at least partly based on anonymized data indicating a particular condition present of the one or more devices.

37. A computationally-implemented system, comprising

circuitry for acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices;

circuitry for generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices;

circuitry for presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services; and

circuitry for acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data, said circuitry for acquiring the generated one or more services including;

circuitry for offering deanonymization data that includes a lookup table, wherein the lookup table is configured to allow replacement of non-identifying data of the anonymized data with data that uniquely identifies at least one of the one or more devices on which the anonymized data is based, to a particular service provider that generated the particular service, in exchange for receiving a particular service of the one or more generated services.

38. A device defined by a computational language comprising:

one or more interchained physical machines ordered for acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices;

one or more interchained physical machines ordered for generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices;

one or more interchained physical machines ordered for presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services; and

one or more interchained physical machines ordered for acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data, said one or more interchained physical machines ordered for acquiring the generated one or more services including;

one or more interchained physical machines ordered for offering deanonymization data that includes a lookup table, wherein the lookup table is configured to allow replacement of non-identifying data of the anonymized data with data that uniquely identifies at least one of the one or more devices on which the anonymized data is based, to a particular service provider that generated the particular service, in exchange for receiving a particular service of the one or more generated services.

39. A device, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor operably coupled to the memory, said processor including;

circuitry for acquiring property data regarding at least one property of one or more devices;

circuitry for generating anonymized data by altering the acquired property data to obscure one or more portions of the acquired property data that uniquely identify the one or more devices and/or one or more users of the one or more devices;

circuitry for presenting the anonymized data to one or more service providers configured to generate one or more services; and

circuitry for acquiring the generated one or more services, said generated one or more services at least partly based on the anonymized data, said acquiring the generated one or more services including;

circuitry for offering deanonymizing data that includes a lookup table, wherein the lookup table is configured to allow replacement of non-identifying data of the anonymized data with data that uniquely identifies at least one of the one or more devices on which the anonymized data is based, to a particular service provider that generated the particular service, in exchange for receiving a particular service of the one or more generated services.