Method for anonymously associating measurement device measurements to a source ID

• US 9,647,990 B2
• Filed: 03/05/2014
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vodafone IP Licensing Limited (Vodafone Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: Vodafone IP Licensing Limited (Vodafone Group PLC)
• Inventors: Alonso Diaz, Patricia, Almodvar Herriz, Daniel, Esteve Asensio, Guillermo
• Primary Examiner(s): Cervetti, David Garcia
• Application Number:
  US14/197,939
• Publication Number:
  US 20140259133A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 726 6, 726 22
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/08 Sensors provided with means for identification, e.g. barcodes or memory chips
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0421 Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/18 using different networks or channels, e.g. using out of band channels cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving distinctive intermediate devices or communication paths H04L9/0827; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for authentication using a plurality of channels H04L9/3215

Abstract

Proposed invention refers to a method for anonymously associating health monitoring device measurements to a user ID. The invention comprises the steps of: registering in a server a user associated with an ID and a first set of metadata; registering a health monitoring device associated to a second ID and a second set of metadata; then, sending through a first communication channel the ID associated to the user and the first set of metadata to the server by a communication device; taking a measurement of the user by the health monitoring device and sending through a second communication channel said measurement associated to the second ID and the second set of metadata to the server; comparing the metadata stored in the server; and finally associating the first ID with the measurements taken by the health monitoring device corresponding to the second set of metadata, being based the association on the results of the previous comparison.

Claims

1. Method for anonymously associating measurement device measurements to a source, the method comprising:

registering the source in a server, the source being assigned a first ID;

registering a measurement device in the server, the measurement device being assigned a second ID;

in response to a measurement of the source being taken by the measurement device, sending, from a communication device associated with the source to the server through a first communication channel, the first ID and a first set of metadata that includes at least one parameter that is not a time parameter;

upon the measurement of the source being taken by the measurement device, sending, from the measurement device to the server through a second communication channel, the measurement, the second ID, and a second set of metadata that includes at least one parameter that is not a time parameter;

performing a comparison, in the server, of the first set of metadata with each of a plurality of sets of metadata correspondingly sent to the server by a plurality of measurement devices registered in the server;

associating, in the server, the first ID with the measurement corresponding to the second set of metadata based on results of the comparison.

2. Method according to claim 1 wherein the comparison comprises setting a threshold for values of each parameter of the sets of metadata being compared.

3. Method according to claim 1 wherein the result of the comparison includes respective values of one specific metadata parameter of the first and second sets of metadata being identified as a direct match.

4. Method according to claim 1 wherein the comparison comprises inference rules relating at least two metadata parameters.

5. Method according to claim 1 wherein metadata parameters used for the comparison are combined in groups of at least two parameters.

6. Method according to claim 5 further comprising refining the comparison by increasing iteratively a number of metadata parameters used for the comparison.

7. Method according to claim 1 wherein the communication device associated with the source and the measurement device are each configured to broadcast a corresponding identifier as part of the first and second sets of metadata respectively and to wait until recognizing the identifier broadcast by the other of the communication device and the measurement device before sending any data to the server.

8. Method according to claim 1 wherein parameters of the sets of metadata are selected from the following list:

time, date, serial number, frequency of use, environmental light, environmental temperature, pressure and movements over a screen, location, data from networks at range, and any other data gathered by both the measurement device and the communication device associated with the source.

9. Method according to claim 1 wherein the measurement devices registered in the server comprise health monitoring devices.

10. Method according to claim 1 wherein the measurement devices registered in the server comprise sensors for tracking deliveries, monitoring a fleet of vehicles, or measuring affluence/traffic of certain locations.

11. Method according to claim 1 wherein the communication device associated with the source is a portable computing device with communication capabilities as a mobile phone or a tablet.

12. Method according to claim 1 wherein the comparison involves comparing non-numerical metadata parameters.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer program code embodied thereon, the program code being executable by a processor to implement the method of claim 1.

14. System for anonymously associating measurement device measurements to a source ID, the system comprising:

a communication device configured to, in response to a measurement of a source being taken, send a first ID and a first set of metadata comprising a plurality of parameters to a server through a first communication channel;

a measurement device configured to take the measurement of the source and send the measurement, a second ID, and a second set of metadata comprising a plurality of parameters to the server through a second communication channel;

a server configured to receive messages from the communication device and the measurement device, perform a comparison of corresponding parameters of the sets of metadata included in the messages, and associate the first ID with the measurement taken by the measurement device according to results of the comparison.

15. Server for anonymously associating measurement device measurements to a source ID, the server comprising:

an interface that receives messages sent from a communication device through a first communication channel and from a measurement device through a second communication channel; and

a matching component that compares respective values of a plurality of metadata parameters included in each of the messages and associates the source ID with measurements taken by the measurement device according to results of comparing the respective values of the metadata parameters included in the messages.