Anonymizing location data

• US 9,763,047 B1
• Filed: 09/28/2016
• Issued: 09/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chakra, Al, Harpur, Liam, Katzen, Erik H., Rice, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ajit
• Assistant Examiner(s): Perez, Julio
• Application Number:
  US15/278,060
• Time in Patent Office: 349 Days
• Field of Search: 455411, 4554561, 4554562, 4554563, 455457
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location

Abstract

Approaches presented herein enable servicing a location request for a user device by providing anonymized location data. Specifically, a location request for a user device is received from an application server associated with a location-based/location-tracking application. Based on an application setting option associated with the location-based/location-tracking application, a geographic cell is defined. A set of available participating devices within the geographic cell is identified. A participating device is selected from the set of available participating devices. The location request is routed to the selected participating device, wherein the selected participating device forwards a location of the selected participating device to the application server.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing location information, the method comprising:

receiving, by a user device from an application server, a request for a location of the user device;

defining a geographic cell having a physical area based on a designated location corresponding to an application option setting selected for an application associated with the application server, wherein the geographic cell is defined based on a home location of the user device when a home option is selected and the geographic cell is defined based on a current location of the user device when a mobile option is selected;

identifying a set of available participating devices that are currently physically located within the geographic cell;

redefining, in response to a determination that a number of available participating devices within the geographic cell is less than a minimum threshold, the geographic cell to expand the physical area;

selecting a participating device from among the set of available participating devices; and

routing the location request to the selected participating device via an address associated with the selected participating device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, from the selected participating device, a location associated with the selected participating device to the application server.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user device and each participating device of the set of participating devices are each selected from a group consisting of:

mobile smart phones, portable media player devices, portable fitness devices, and mobile gaming devices.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application option setting includes the home option and the mobile option, and wherein the application option setting is set via a graphical user interface on the user device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

defining a second geographic cell having a different physical area based on a second designated location corresponding to a second application option setting selected for a second application associated with a second application server;

identifying, in response to a second request for the location of the user device, a second set of available participating devices that are currently physically located within the second geographic cell;

selecting a second participating device from among the second set of available participating devices; and

routing the second location request to the selected second participating device via an address associated with the selected second participating device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining an address for each of the set of available participating devices.

7. A computer program product for providing location information embodied in a computer readable storage device which, when executed by at least one computer device, causes the at least one computer device to:

receive, by a user device from an application server, a request for a location of the user device;

define a geographic cell having a physical area based on a designated location corresponding to an application option setting selected for an application associated with the application server, wherein the geographic cell is defined based on a home location of the user device when a home option is selected and the geographic cell is defined based on a current location of the user device when a mobile option is selected;

identify a set of available participating devices that are currently physically located within the geographic cell;

redefine, in response to a determination that a number of available participating devices within the geographic cell is less than a minimum threshold, the geographic cell to expand the physical area;

select a participating device from among the set of available participating devices; and

route the location request to the selected participating device via an address associated with the selected participating device.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the set of available participating devices is selected based on an assigned geographic location and current location of each of the available participating devices.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the user device and participating devices are selected from a group consisting of:

mobile smart phones, portable media player devices, portable fitness devices, and mobile gaming devices.

10. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising program instructions to display a graphical user interface on the user device, wherein the application setting option is set via the graphical user interface, and wherein the application option setting includes the home option and the mobile option.

11. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising program instructions to:

define a second geographic cell having a different physical area based on a second designated location corresponding to a second application option setting selected for a second application associated with a second application server;

identify, in response to a second request for the location of the user device, a second set of available participating devices that are currently physically located within the second geographic cell;

select a second participating device from among the second set of available participating devices; and

route the second location request to the selected second participating device via an address associated with the selected second participating device.

12. The computer program product of claim 7, further comprising program instructions to obtain an address for each of the set of available participating devices.

13. A computer system for providing location information, the computer system comprising:

a memory medium comprising program instructions;

a bus coupled to the memory medium; and

a processor for executing the program instructions, the instructions causing the system to;

receive, by a user device from an application server, a request for a location of user device;

define a geographic cell having a physical area based on a designated location corresponding to an application option setting selected for an application associated with the application server, wherein the geographic cell is defined based on a home location of the user device when a home option is selected and the geographic cell is defined based on a current location of the user device when a mobile option is selected;

identify a set of available participating devices that are currently physically located within the geographic cell;

redefine, in response to a determination that a number of available participating devices within the geographic cell is less than a minimum threshold, the geographic cell to expand the physical area;

select a participating device from among the set of available participating devices; and

route the location request to the selected participating device via an address associated with the selected participating device.

14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the user device and participating devices are selected from a group consisting of:

mobile smart phones, portable media player devices, portable fitness devices, and mobile gaming devices.

15. The computer system of claim 13, further comprising program instructions to display a graphical user interface on the user device, wherein the application setting option is set via the graphical user interface, and wherein the application option setting includes the home option and the mobile option.

16. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising program instructions to:

define a second geographic cell having a different physical area based on a second designated location corresponding to a second application option setting selected for a second application associated with a second application server;

identify, in response to a second request for the location of the user device, a second set of available participating devices that are currently physically located within the second geographic cell;

select a second participating device from among the second set of available participating devices; and

route the second location request to the selected second participating device via an address associated with the selected second participating device.

17. The computer system of claim 13, further comprising program instructions to obtain an address for each of the set of available participating devices.