Location privacy

• US 10,401,183 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2015
• Issued: 09/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Biswas, Debmalya, Lawrenson, Matthew John, Nolan, Julian
• Primary Examiner(s): Soofi, Yazan A
• Application Number:
  US15/557,230
• Publication Number:
  US 20180052001A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,632 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/16 selectively restricting mobility data tracking

Abstract

According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one receiver configured to receive a route indication specifying an initial point (110) and an end point of a route (120), and at least one processing core configured to determine a plurality of candidate routes (112, 114) based at least in part on the route indication and a privacy preference indication, and to determine for each of the plurality of candidate routes a privacy overhead route (112P, 114P).

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one receiver configured to receive a route indication specifying an initial point and an end point of a route, and

at least one processing core configured to determine a plurality of candidate routes based at least in part on the route indication and a privacy preference indication, and to determine for each of the plurality of candidate routes a privacy overhead route connecting the end point of the route with an end of the candidate route.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processing core is further configured to determine, for each privacy overhead route, at least one of an associated time overhead and an associated fuel consumption overhead.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processing core is configured to determine the plurality of candidate routes by employing a graph traversal algorithm to identify routes that begin in the initial point specified in the route indication and satisfy the privacy preference indication.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the privacy preference indication is associated with a minimum number of possible paths.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of candidate routes comprises at least one first route that comprises the end point specified in the route indication such that the first route does not end at the end point.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein for each of the at least one first route, a route extending from the end point to the end of the first route comprises the privacy overhead route.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of candidate routes comprises at least one second route that does not comprise the end point.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein for each of the at least one second route, a route extending from the end of the second route to the end point comprises the privacy overhead route.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processing core is configured to determine the plurality of candidate routes at least in part in dependence of a maximum time parameter.

10. A method comprising:

receiving a route indication specifying an initial point and an end point of a route;

determining a plurality of candidate routes based at least in part on the route indication and a privacy preference indication, and

determining for each of the plurality of candidate routes a privacy overhead route connecting the end point of the route with an end of the candidate route.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising determining, for each privacy overhead route, at least one of an associated time overhead and an associated fuel consumption overhead.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of candidate routes are determined by employing a graph traversal algorithm to identify routes that begin in the initial point specified in the route indication and satisfy the privacy preference indication.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the privacy preference indication is associated with a minimum number of possible paths.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of candidate routes comprises at least one first route that comprises the end point specified in the route indication such that the first route does not end at the end point.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein for each of the at least one first route, a route extending from the end point to the end of the first route comprises the privacy overhead route.

16. The method according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of candidate routes comprises at least one second route that does not comprise the end point.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein for each of the at least one second route, a route extending from the end of the second route to the end point comprises the privacy overhead route.

18. The method according to claim 10, wherein the plurality of candidate routes are determined at least in part in dependence of a maximum time parameter.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a set of computer readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least:

receive a route indication specifying an initial point and an end point of a route,

determine a plurality of candidate routes based at least in part on the route indication and a privacy preference indication, and

determine for each of the plurality of candidate routes a privacy overhead route connecting the end point of the route with an end of the candidate route.