Regulating communication of audio data from a client device based on a privacy setting stored by the client device

• US 9,697,368 B2
• Filed: 07/29/2014
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Dharawat, Parikshit
• Primary Examiner(s): ZHAO, DON GORDON
• Application Number:
  US14/445,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20160036815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,071 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/606 by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles

Abstract

A client device stores a user-specified privacy setting regulating communication of information associated with audio data captured by the client device to an external entity. When the client device captures audio data, the client device determines whether the user-specified privacy setting authorizes communication of data associated with the captured audio data to an external entity. The privacy setting may identify specific external entities to which data may be communicated, specify characteristics of captured audio data authorized to be transmitted, or generally specify whether communication of data associated with captured audio data is authorized or prevented.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a first and a second client computing devices for voice communication, each of the first and the second client computing devices being associated with a respective user and configured to;

process captured audio data including voice data from the respective user being transmitted between the first and the second client computing devices;

store a respective privacy setting specified by the respective user; and

regulate communication of the captured audio data by transmitting the captured audio data to an external entity when the captured audio data is authorized for communication by the respective privacy setting, and not transmitting the captured audio data to the external entity when the captured audio data is not authorized for communication by the respective privacy setting; and

the external entity configured to receive information based at least in part on the captured audio data from the first and the second client computing devices and configured to communicate contextual information determined from the received information to the first and the second client computing devices.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the external entity is further configured to communicate the contextual information to the first and the second client computing devices via another external entity.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the respective privacy setting of the first and the second client computing devices is selected from a group consisting of a privacy setting authorizing communication of captured audio data and a privacy setting preventing communication of captured audio data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the respective privacy setting of the first and the second client computing devices is selected from a group consisting of a privacy setting authorizing communication of captured audio data, a privacy setting preventing communication of captured audio data, and a privacy setting authorizing communication of a subset of information based on captured audio data.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the privacy setting authorizing communication of the subset of information based on captured audio data specifies one or more characteristics of captured audio data authorized to be communicated.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the captured audio data from the first and the second client computing devices includes a location associated with the captured audio data.

7. A method comprising:

receiving, by a first client computing device, a privacy setting from a user associated with the first client computing device, the privacy setting regulating communication of audio data captured by the first client computing device to one or more external entities;

storing, by the first client computing device, the privacy setting in the first client computing device;

capturing, by the first client computing device, audio data including voice data from the user being transmitted to a second client computing device;

retrieving, by the first client computing device, the privacy setting;

determining, by the first client computing device, whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to an external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting;

not communicating, by the first client computing device, the captured audio data to the external entity when the privacy setting indicates that the communication to the external entity is not authorized; and

communicating, by the first client computing device, the captured audio data to the external entity when the privacy setting indicates that the communication to the external entity is authorized.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

determining whether the privacy setting has a privacy setting value authorizing communication of the captured audio data or has a privacy setting value preventing communication of the captured audio data.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

comparing an identifier associated with the external entity to an identifier specified by the privacy setting, the identifier indicating an entity to which the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data; and

determining the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity if the identifier associated with the external entity matches the identifier specified by the privacy setting.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

comparing an identifier associated with the external entity to an identifier specified by the privacy setting, the identifier indicating an entity to which the first client computing device is not authorized to communicate the captured audio data; and

determining the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity if the identifier associated with the external entity does not match the identifier specified by the privacy setting.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

retrieving one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data;

determining whether the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data match at least a threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting, the at least the threshold amount of characteristics being used to authorize the first client computing device to communicate the captured audio data; and

determining the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity in response to determining the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data match at least the threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

retrieving one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data;

determining whether the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data match at least a threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting, the at least the threshold amount of characteristics being used to not authorize the first client computing device to communicate the captured audio data; and

determining the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity in response to determining the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data do not match at least the threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving, by the first client computing device, contextual information from the external entity based on the captured audio data if the first client computing device communicates the captured audio data based on the privacy setting.

14. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor of a first client computing device, cause the processor of the first client computing device to:

receive a privacy setting from a user associated with the first client computing device, the privacy setting regulating communication of audio data captured by the first client computing device to one or more external entities;

store the privacy setting in the first client computing device;

capture audio data including voice data from the user being transmitted to a second client computing device;

retrieve the privacy setting;

determine whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to an external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting;

not communicating the captured audio data to the external entity when the privacy setting indicates that communication to the external entity is not authorized; and

communicating the captured audio data to the external entity when the privacy setting indicates that communication to the external entity is authorized.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein determine whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

determine whether the privacy setting has a privacy setting value authorizing communication of the captured audio data or has a privacy setting value preventing communication of the captured audio data.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein determine whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

compare an identifier associated with the external entity to an identifier specified by the privacy setting, the identifier indicating an entity to which the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data; and

determine the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity if the identifier associated with the external entity matches the identifier specified by the privacy setting.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein determine whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

retrieve one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data;

determine whether the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data match at least a threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting, the at least the threshold amount of characteristics being used to authorize the first client computing device to communicate the captured audio data; and

determine the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity in response to determining the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data match at least the threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein determine whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

compare an identifier associated with the external entity to an identifier specified by the privacy setting, the identifier indicating an entity to which the first client computing device is not authorized to communicate the captured audio data; and

determine the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity if the identifier associated with the external entity does not match the identifier specified by the privacy setting.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein determine whether the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity based at least in part on the privacy setting comprises:

retrieve one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data;

determine whether the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data match at least a threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting, the at least the threshold amount of characteristics being used to not authorize the first client computing device to communicate the captured audio data; and

determine the first client computing device is authorized to communicate the captured audio data to the external entity in response to determining the one or more characteristics associated with the captured audio data do not match at least the threshold amount of characteristics specified by the privacy setting.