Techniques for identifying and accessing information of interest to a user in a network environment without compromising the user's privacy

• US 6,581,072 B1
• Filed: 05/17/2001
• Issued: 06/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Stratify, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Venkata, Ramana, Mathur, Rakesh, Thomas, Joy A., Subramonian, Ramesh, Nayak, Pangal P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones, Charles
• Application Number:
  US09/861,463
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• Field of Search: 707/104.1, 707/3, 709/26
• US Class Current: 707/711
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/922 Communications
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

Techniques for identifying and accessing documents (e.g., web pages) of interest to a user in a network environment without compromising the user'"'"'s privacy. A user system receives index information comprising information related to documents stored in a network environment. The index information is then used to identify and access documents of interest to the user. The identification of documents of interest to the user is performed on the user system thus obviating the need to provide any information to search engines executing on remote servers. The present invention preserves user privacy by controlling and minimizing the communication and collection of user-related information from the user system. Merely by way of example, the present invention allows users to identify and access web pages from web servers coupled to a communication network such as the Internet without compromising user privacy.

Claims

1. In a network environment comprising a user system, an index server, and a plurality of web servers storing a plurality of documents, a method of accessing a first document from the plurality of documents using the user system, the method comprising:

determining, at the index server, index information to be communicated to the user system, the index information comprising information identifying the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of web servers and information related to the contents of the plurality of documents;

communicating the index information from the index server to the user system; and

at the user system;

identifying a first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server, the first set of documents including the first document, wherein the first set of documents is identified substantially free from interaction with the index server and the plurality of web servers;

receiving a signal indicating selection of the first document from the first set of documents; and

responsive to the signal, accessing the selected first document from a web server storing the first document.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining, at the index server, index information to be communicated to the user system comprises:

at the index server;

for each document in the plurality of documents;

determining information identifying the document;

determining information identifying a web server storing the document; and

determining information related to the contents of the document; and

generating the index information based upon the information identifying the plurality of documents, the information identifying web servers storing the plurality of documents, and the information related to the contents of the plurality of documents.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein generating the index information comprises:

at the index server;

accessing a first set of criteria;

from the information identifying the plurality of documents, the information identifying web servers storing the plurality of documents, and the information related to the contents of the plurality of documents, determining information which satisfies the first set of criteria; and

generating the index information based upon the information which satisfies the first set of criteria.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining, at the index server, index information to be communicated to the user system comprises:

at the index server;

receiving first index information from a first server providing a first search engine, the first index information comprising information related to documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the first search engine; and

configuring the index information to be communicated to the user system based upon the first index information.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein determining, at the index server, index information to be communicated to the user system comprises:

at the index server;

receiving first index information from a first server providing a first search engine, the first index information comprising information related to documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the first search engine;

receiving second index information from a second server providing a second search engine, the second index information comprising information related to documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the second search engine; and

configuring the index information to be communicated to the user system based upon the first index information and the second index information.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein configuring the index information to be communicated to the user system comprises combining the first index information and the second index information to generate the index information.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying, at the user system, the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

at the user system;

receiving a search query;

responsive to receiving the search query, searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents which satisfy the search query; and

including the documents which satisfy the search query in the first set of documents.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying, at the user system, the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

at the user system;

accessing information related to a user of the user system;

searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents based upon the information related to the user of the user system; and

including the documents identified based upon the information related to the user of the user system in the first set of documents.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of web servers are a plurality of web pages, and the first set of documents includes a first set of web pages from the plurality of web pages;

identifying, at the user system, the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises identifying a first set URLs corresponding to the first set of web pages;

receiving a signal indicating selection of the first document comprises receiving a signal indicating selection of a first URL from the first set of URLs; and

accessing the selected first document comprises accessing a web page corresponding to the selected first URL.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein accessing the selected first document comprises:

determining if the web server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system; and

if the web server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system, preventing the web server from tracking the information from the user system.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein determining if the web server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system comprises:

determining if a cookie is associated with the first document accessed using the user system.

12. A method of accessing a first document from the plurality of documents stored by a plurality of servers using a user system, the method comprising:

at the user system;

receiving index information from an index server, the index information comprising information identifying the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of servers and information related to the contents of the plurality of documents;

identifying a first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server, the first set of documents including the first document, wherein the first set of documents is identified substantially free from interaction with the index server and the plurality of servers;

receiving a signal indicating selection of the first document from the first set of documents; and

responsive to the signal, accessing the selected first document from a server storing the first document.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the index information received by the user system comprises information for the plurality of documents collected by the index server, the information collected by the index server comprising information identifying the plurality of documents, information identifying servers storing the plurality of documents, and information related to the contents of the plurality of documents.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein receiving index information from the index server comprises:

communicating a first set of criteria from the user system to the index server; and

wherein the index information received by the user system from the index server comprises information satisfying the first set of criteria.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the index information received by the user system comprises first index information communicated by a first server providing a first search engine to the index server, and second index information communicated by a second server providing a second search engine to the index server,

wherein the first index information comprises information identifying documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the first search engine;

and

wherein the second index information comprises information identifying documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the second search engine.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

at the user system;

receiving a search query;

responsive to receiving the search query, searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents which satisfy the search query; and

including the documents which satisfy the search query in the first set of documents.

17. The method of claim 12 wherein identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

at the user system;

accessing information related to a user of the user system;

searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents based upon the information related to the user of the user system; and

including the documents identified based upon the information related to the user of the user system in the first set of documents.

18. The method of claim 12 wherein:

the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of servers are a plurality of web pages, and the first set of documents includes a first set of web pages from the plurality of web pages;

identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises identifying a first set URLs corresponding to the first set of web pages;

receiving a signal indicating selection of the first document comprises receiving a signal indicating selection of a first URL from the first set of URLs; and

accessing the selected first document comprises accessing a web page corresponding to the selected first URL.

19. The method of claim 12 wherein accessing the selected first document comprises:

determining if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system; and

if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system, preventing the server from tracking information from the user system.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein determining if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system comprises:

determining if a cookie is associated with the first document accessed using the user system.

21. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable storage medium for accessing a first document using a user system from a plurality of documents stored in a network environment, the computer program product comprising:

code for receiving index information from an index server, the index information comprising information identifying the plurality of documents, information related to contents of the plurality of documents, and information identifying servers storing the plurality of documents;

code for identifying a first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server, the first set of documents including the first document, wherein the first set of documents is identified substantially free from interaction with the index server and the servers storing the plurality of documents;

code for receiving a signal indicating selection of the first document from the first set of documents; and

responsive to the signal, code for accessing the selected first document from a server storing the first document.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the code for receiving index information from the index server comprises:

code for communicating a first set of criteria from the user system to the index server; and

wherein the index information received by the user system from the index server comprises information satisfying the first set of criteria.

23. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the code for identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

code for receiving a search query;

responsive to receiving the search query, code for searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents which satisfy the search query; and

code for including the documents which satisfy the search query in the first set of documents.

24. The computer program product of claim 21 wherein the code for identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

code for accessing information related to a user of the user system;

code for searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents based upon the information related to the user of the user system; and

code for including the documents identified based upon the information related to the user of the user system in the first set of documents.

25. The computer program product of claim 21 the code for accessing the selected first document comprises:

code for determining if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system; and

if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system, code for preventing the server from tracking information from the user system.

26. A system for accessing information comprising:

a communication network;

a plurality of web server systems coupled to the communication network, the plurality of web server systems configured to store a plurality of documents, the plurality of documents including a first document;

an index server system coupled to the communication network; and

a user system;

wherein the index server system is configured to determine index information to be communicated to the user system, the index information comprising information identifying the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of web server systems and information related to the contents of the plurality of documents;

wherein the index server system is configured to communicate the index information to the user system; and

wherein the user system is configured to;

identify a first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server system, the first set of documents including the first document, the identification of the first set of documents being performed substantially free from interaction with the index server system and the plurality of web server systems;

receive a signal indicating selection of the first document from the first set of documents; and

in response to the signal, access the selected first document from a web server storing the first document.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein to determine the index information to be communicated to the user system, the index server system is configured to:

for each document in the plurality of documents;

determine information identifying the document;

determine information identifying a web server storing the document; and

determine information related to the contents of the document; and

configure the index information based upon the information identifying the plurality of documents, the information identifying web servers storing the plurality of documents, and the information related to the contents of the plurality of documents.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein to configure the index information, the index server system is configured to:

access a first set of criteria;

from the information identifying the plurality of documents, the information identifying web servers storing the plurality of documents, and the information related to the contents of the plurality of documents, determine information which satisfies the first set of criteria; and

generate the index information based upon the information which satisfies the first set of criteria.

29. The system of claim 26 wherein to determine the index information to be communicated to the user system, the index server system is configured to:

receive first index information from a first server providing a first search engine, the first index information comprising information related to documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the first search engine; and

configure the index information to be communicated to the user system based upon the first index information.

30. The system of claim 26 wherein to determine the index information to be communicated to the user system, the index server system is configured to:

receive first index information from a first server providing a first search engine, the first index information comprising information related to documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the first search engine;

receive second index information from a second server providing a second search engine, the second index information comprising information related to documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the second search engine; and

configure the index information to be communicated to the user system based upon the first index information and the second index information.

31. The system of claim 30 wherein to configure the index information to be communicated to the user system, the index server system is configured to combine the first index information and the second index information to generate the index information.

32. The system of claim 26 wherein to identify the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server system, the user system is configured to:

receive a search query;

responsive to receiving the search query, search the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents which satisfy the search query; and

include the documents which satisfy the search query in the first set of documents.

33. The system of claim 26 wherein to identify the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server system, the user system is configured to:

access information related to a user of the user system;

search the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents based upon the information related to the user of the user system; and

include the documents identified based upon the information related to the user of the user system in the first set of documents.

34. The system of claim 26 wherein:

the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of web server systems are a plurality of web pages, and the first set of documents includes a first set of web pages from the plurality of web pages;

to identify the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server system, the user system is configured to identify a first set URLs corresponding to the first set of web pages;

to receive a signal indicating selection of the first document, the user system is configured to receive a signal indicating selection of a first URL from the first set of URLs; and

to access the selected first document, the user system is configured to access a web page corresponding to the selected first URL.

35. The system of claim 26 wherein to access the selected first document, the user system is configured to:

determine if the web server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system; and

if the web server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system, prevent the web server from tracking information from the user system.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein to determine if the web server storing the first document is tracking information from the user system, the user system is configured to determine if a cookie is associated with the first document accessed from the web server.

37. A data processing system for accessing a first document from a plurality of documents stored by a plurality of servers, the data processing system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory configured to store a plurality of code modules for execution by the processor, the plurality of code modules comprising;

code for receiving index information from an index server, the index information comprising information identifying the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of servers and information related to the contents of the plurality of documents;

code for identifying a first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server, the first set of documents including the first document, wherein the first set of documents is identified substantially free from interaction with the index server and the plurality of servers;

code for receiving a signal indicating selection of the first document from the first set of documents; and

responsive to the signal, code for accessing the selected first document from a server storing the first document.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein the index information received by the data processing system comprises information for the plurality of documents collected by the index server, the information collected by the index server comprising information identifying the plurality of documents, information identifying servers storing the plurality of documents, and information related to the contents of the plurality of documents.

39. The system of claim 37 wherein the code for receiving index information from the index server comprises:

code for communicating a first set of criteria from the data processing system to the index server;

wherein the index information received by the data processing system from the index server comprises information satisfying the first set of criteria.

40. The system of claim 37 wherein the index information received by the data processing system comprises first index information communicated by a first server providing a first search engine to the index server, and second index information communicated by a second server providing a second search engine to the index server,

wherein the first index information comprises information identifying documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the first search engine;

and

wherein the second index information comprises information identifying documents from the plurality of documents which can be identified using the second search engine.

41. The system of claim 37 wherein the code for identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

code for receiving a search query;

responsive to receiving the search query, code for searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents which satisfy the search query; and

code for including the documents which satisfy the search query in the first set of documents.

42. The system of claim 37 wherein the code for identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises:

code for accessing information related to a user of the data processing system;

code for searching the index information to identify documents from the plurality of documents based upon the information related to the user of the data processing system; and

code for including the documents identified based upon the information related to the user of the data processing system in the first set of documents.

43. The system of claim 37 wherein:

the plurality of documents stored by the plurality of servers are a plurality of web pages, and the first set of documents includes a first set of web pages from the plurality of web pages;

the code for identifying the first set of documents from the plurality of documents using the index information received from the index server comprises code for identifying a first set URLs corresponding to the first set of web pages;

the code for receiving a signal indicating selection of the first document comprises code for receiving a signal indicating selection of a first URL from the first set of URLs; and

the code for accessing the selected first document comprises code for accessing a web page corresponding to the selected first URL.

44. The system of claim 37 wherein the code for accessing the selected first document comprises:

code for determining if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the data processing system; and

if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the data processing system, code for preventing the server from tracking information from the data processing system.

45. The system of claim 44 wherein the code for determining if the server storing the first document is tracking information from the data processing system comprises code for determining if a cookie is associated with the first document accessed using the data processing system.