System, method, and program for storing and controlling access to data representing personal behavior

• US 9,953,188 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2016
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Snelling, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Gergiso, Techane
• Application Number:
  US15/003,056
• Publication Number:
  US 20160232377A1
• Time in Patent Office: 824 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification

Abstract

A system for storing and controlling access to data representing personal behavior, the system comprising an ID retrieval apparatus to receive identifying information revealing the identity of an individual, to submit a request corresponding to the received identifying information to an ID generation apparatus, to receive an anonymized user ID in return, and to output the user ID to the individual; a data engine comprising a data store and an access controller, the store being inaccessible to the ID retrieval apparatus and configured to receive and store personalized behavioral data, access to the stored behavioral data being controlled by the controller, the behavioral data representing behavior of the individual, which data are anonymously personalized with the user ID; the controller controlling access to the data by requiring that access requests from service providers specify the user ID with which the behavioral data are personalized to access the data.

Claims

1. A system for storing and controlling access to data representing personal behavior, the system comprising:

an ID retrieval apparatus configured to receive identifying information revealing an identity of an individual, to submit a request corresponding to received identifying information to an ID generation apparatus, to receive an anonymized user ID in return, and to output the anonymized user ID to the individual;

a data engine comprising a data store and an access controller, the data store being inaccessible to the ID retrieval apparatus and being configured to receive and store personalized behavioral data, access to stored personalized behavioral data being controlled by the access controller, wherein the personalized behavioral data are from a behavioral data source device;

the behavioral data source device being either one of a device configured to interact with the individual and to record information representing an interaction with the individual as behavioral data, and a sensor apparatus configured to record a series of measurements of a physical property of the individual as behavioral data; and

the behavioral data source device being configured to submit the behavioral data to the data engine as personalized behavioral data, either by one of anonymously personalizing the behavioral data with the anonymized user ID of the individual at the behavioral data source device, and via an intermediate device at which the behavioral data are received, anonymously personalized with the anonymized user ID of the individual, and transferred to the data engine as personalized behavioral data;

the access controller being configured to control access to the personalized behavioral data by requiring that data access requests from service providers specify the anonymized user ID with which the personalized behavioral data are personalized to access the personalized behavioral data, wherein the access controller is configured to maintain a list of service providers authorized to access the data store, to determine whether a received data access request is from one of the service providers of the list, and when not, to block the data access request;

the system further comprising;

a service providing apparatus operable on behalf of the one of the service providers authorized to access the data store and being configured to receive an anonymously personalized registration request from the individual, the anonymously personalized registration request being personalized only by the anonymized user ID, to submit a data access request to the data engine specifying the anonymized user ID and a range of the behavioral data personalized with the specified anonymized user ID, to receive behavioral data from within the range from the data engine, to execute data processing on received behavioral data, and to output a data processing result on behalf of the individual.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the behavioral data source device is configured to receive and install software which, when executed, causes the data source device to generate personal data and to submit the generated personal data to the data engine.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein

the data store is configured to store received personalized behavioral data in association with a category from among a predetermined set of categories;

and

the access controller is configured to control access to the personalized behavioral data by, upon receipt of a data access requests from a service provider, identifying the service provider, determining which category from among the predetermined set of categories the identified service provider is authorized to access, and precluding the data access request from accessing personalized behavioral data not categorized in the category which the service provider is authorized to access.

4. A system according to claim 1, the system further comprising:

the ID generation apparatus, which is configured to create the anonymized user ID by executing an irreversible process in response to receiving the request, and to output the anonymized user ID to the individual via the ID retrieval apparatus.

5. A system according to claim 4, wherein the ID generation apparatus is configured to perform creating and outputting the anonymized user ID as a stateless method.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein the ID retrieval apparatus is configured to submit the request to the ID generation apparatus in association with a request for another anonymized user IDs in addition to the anonymized user ID, to receive the another anonymized user ID, and to output the another anonymized user ID to the individual;

and

wherein one of the behavioral data source device, and the intermediate device when utilized, is configured to accept from the individual a selection of one anonymized user ID from among the anonymized user ID and the another anonymized user ID, and to anonymously personalize behavioral data with the selected anonymized user ID.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein one of the ID retrieval apparatus and the ID generation apparatus are certified via a Public Key Infrastructure.

8. A method for storing and controlling access to data representing personal behavior, the method comprising:

receiving, at an ID retrieval apparatus, identifying information revealing an identity of an individual, submitting a request corresponding to received identifying information to an ID generation apparatus, receiving an anonymized user ID from the ID generation apparatus in return, and outputting the anonymized user ID to the individual;

receiving and storing, at a data engine comprising a data store and an access controller with the data store being inaccessible to the ID retrieval apparatus, personalized behavioral data, access to the stored personalized behavioral data being controlled by the access controller, wherein the personalized behavioral data are from a behavioral data source device, the behavioral data source device being either one of a device configured to interact with the individual and to record information representing an interaction with the individual as behavioral data, and a sensor apparatus configured to record a series of measurements of a physical property of the individual as behavioral data; and

the method further comprising;

submitting, by the behavioral data source device, the behavioral data to the data engine as personalized behavioral data, either by one of anonymously personalizing the behavioral data with the anonymized user ID of the individual at the behavioral data source device, and via an intermediate device at which the behavioral data are received, anonymously personalized with the anonymized user ID of the individual, and transferred to the data engine as personalized behavioral data;

controlling, at the access controller, access to the stored personalized behavioral data by requiring that data access requests from service providers specify the anonymized user ID with which the personalized behavioral data are personalized to access the personalized behavioral data, including maintaining a list of service providers authorized to access the data store, determining whether a received data access request is from one of the service providers of the list, and when not, blocking the data access request; and

at a service providing apparatus operable on behalf of the one of the service providers authorized to access the data store, receiving an anonymously personalized registration request from the individual, the anonymously personalized registration request being personalized only by the anonymized user ID, submitting a data access request to the data engine specifying the anonymized user ID and a range of the behavioral data personalized with the specified anonymized user ID, receiving behavioral data from within the range from the data engine, executing data processing on the received behavioral data, and outputting a data processing result on behalf of the individual.

9. A computer readable non-transitory storage media, comprising:

a first non-transitory storage medium area storing a computer program which when executed by a first server, causes the first server to perform;

receiving identifying information revealing an identity of an individual, submitting a request corresponding to the received identifying information to an ID generation apparatus, receiving an anonymized user ID from the ID generation apparatus in return, and outputting the anonymized user ID to the individual; and

a second non-transitory storage medium area storing a computer program which when executed by a second server, comprising a data storage unit that is inaccessible to the first server, causes the second server to perform;

receiving and storing personalized behavioral data, access to the stored personalized behavioral data being controlled by the second server, wherein the personalized behavioral data are from a behavioral data source device, the behavioral data source device being either one of a device configured to interact with the individual and to record information representing an interaction with the individual as behavioral data, and a sensor apparatus configured to record a series of measurements of a physical property of the individual as behavioral data, the second server receiving the behavioral data from the behavioral data source device as personalized behavioral data, personalized with the anonymized user ID of the individual, either from the behavioral data source device or from an intermediate device between the behavioral data source device and the second server; and

controlling access to the stored personalized behavioral data by requiring that data access requests from service providers specify the anonymized user ID with which the personalized behavioral data are personalized to access the personalized behavioral data, including maintaining a list of service providers authorized to access the data store, determining whether a received data access request is from one of the service providers of the list, and when not, blocking the data access request;

the computer-readable non-transitory storage media further comprising;

a third non-transitory storage medium area storing a computer program which when executed by a third server, causes the third server to perform;

on behalf of the one of the service providers authorized to access the data store, receiving an anonymously personalized registration request from the individual, the anonymously personalized registration request being personalized only by the anonymized user ID, submitting a data access request to the data engine specifying the anonymized user ID and a range of the behavioral data personalized with the specified anonymized user ID, receiving behavioral data from within the range from the data engine, executing data processing on the received behavioral data, and outputting a data processing result on behalf of the individual.

10. The non-transitory storage media according to claim 9, further comprising:

a fourth non-transitory storage medium area storing a computer program which when executed by a fourth server causes the fourth server to perform;

receiving the request from the first server, creating the anonymized user ID by executing an irreversible process in response to receiving the request, and outputting the anonymized user ID to the individual via the first server.