Mobile privacy information proxy

• US 9,679,159 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2016
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Finjan Blue, Inc. (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Arunachalam, Krishnarajan, Biener, Adam S., Joshi, Sunil
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane
• Application Number:
  US14/989,849
• Publication Number:
  US 20160117525A1
• Time in Patent Office: 523 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/64 using geofenced areas

Abstract

An approach is provided for managing data being transmitted from a mobile device. The mobile device receives a request from a user to initiate a transmission of data. The mobile device determines whether the data includes person or business-related sensitive information based on a format of the data, and if so, the mobile device determines a country in which the mobile device is currently located, determines a privacy policy of the country in which the mobile device is currently located, and determines whether the privacy policy applies to a type of the data corresponding to the format of the data; and if so, the mobile device notifies the user of the privacy policy of the country, identifies to the user the type of the data for which the privacy policy applies, and queries the user whether to transmit the data as requested by the user.

Claims

1. A method of managing data being transmitted from a mobile device, the method comprising the steps of:

the mobile device receiving a request from a user to initiate a transmission of data;

the mobile device determining whether the data includes sensitive information based on a format of the data, and if so,

the mobile device determining a country in which the mobile device is currently located, the mobile device determining a privacy policy of the country in which the mobile device is currently located, the sensitive information being information whose disclosure or unauthorized access adversely affects privacy, welfare, or security of a person or a business, and the mobile device determining whether the privacy policy applies to a type of the data corresponding to the format of the data; and

if so,

the mobile device notifying the user of the privacy policy of the country, identifying to the user the type of the data for which the privacy policy applies, and querying the user whether to transmit the data as requested by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

the mobile device determining the mobile device has moved from the country to a second country, and in response, determining a new privacy policy of the second country;

subsequent to the step of determining the mobile device has moved to the second country, the mobile device receiving a request from the user to initiate a second transmission of the data; and

the mobile device determining the new privacy policy applies to the type of the data corresponding to the format of the data, and in response, notifying the user of the new privacy policy of the second country, identifying to the user the type of the data for which the new privacy policy applies, and querying the user whether to transmit the data in the second transmission as requested by the user.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

the mobile device periodically determining whether an update exists for the privacy policy of the country in which the mobile device is currently located; and

in response to the step of periodically determining and prior to the step of determining the privacy policy, the mobile device determining the update exists and downloading the update for the privacy policy,

wherein the step of determining the privacy policy includes updating the privacy policy by the downloaded update.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

the mobile device determining the format of the data;

the mobile device retrieving a rule of the privacy policy, the rule associating the country and the type of the data with a regular expression data pattern;

the mobile device determining the format of the data matches the regular expression data pattern; and

based on the format of the data matching the regular expression data pattern, the mobile device determining the privacy policy applies to the type of the data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the type of the data in the rule includes an attribute specifying a level of sensitivity of the data.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the rule further associates the country and the type of the data with a locale specifying a language used in the step of notifying the user of the privacy policy.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensitive information includes a national identification number, a telephone number, an email address, or a financial account number.

8. A computer program product for managing data being transmitted from a mobile device, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable storage devices and program instructions stored on the one or more storage devices, the one or more computer-readable storage devices not being one or more signals or signal propagation media, and the program instructions being executed by one or more hardware processors, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to receive a request from a user to initiate a transmission of data;

program instructions to determine whether the data includes sensitive information based on a format of the data, and if so, determine a country in which the mobile device is currently located, determine a privacy policy of the country in which the mobile device is currently located, the sensitive information being information whose disclosure or unauthorized access adversely affects privacy, welfare, or security of a person or a business, and determine whether the privacy policy applies to a type of the data corresponding to the format of the data; and

program instructions to, if the privacy policy applies to the type of the data corresponding to the format of the data, notify the user of the privacy policy of the country, identify to the user the type of the data for which the privacy policy applies, and query the user whether to transmit the data as requested by the user.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to determine the mobile device has moved from the country to a second country, and in response, determine a new privacy policy of the second country;

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to receive, subsequent to determining the mobile device has moved to the second country, a request from the user to initiate a second transmission of the data; and

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to determine the new privacy policy applies to the type of the data corresponding to the format of the data, and in response, notify the user of the new privacy policy of the second country, identify to the user the type of the data for which the new privacy policy applies, and query the user whether to transmit the data in the second transmission as requested by the user.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to periodically determine whether an update exists for the privacy policy of the country in which the mobile device is currently located; and

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to determine, in response to periodically determining whether the update exists for the privacy policy by the program instructions to periodically determine whether the update exists and prior to determining the privacy policy by the program instructions to determine the privacy policy, the update exists and download the update for the privacy policy,

wherein the program instructions to determine the privacy policy update the privacy policy by the downloaded update.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to determine the format of the data;

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to retrieve a rule of the privacy policy, the rule associating the country and the type of the data with a regular expression data pattern;

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to determine the format of the data matches the regular expression data pattern; and

program instructions, stored on the one or more storage devices, to determine, based on the format of the data matching the regular expression data pattern, the privacy policy applies to the type of the data.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the type of the data in the rule includes an attribute specifying a level of sensitivity of the data.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the rule further associates the country and the type of the data with a locale specifying a language used by the program instructions to notify the user of the privacy policy.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the sensitive information includes a national identification number, a telephone number, an email address, or a financial account number.

15. A computer system for managing data being transmitted from the computer system comprising:

a mobile device;

a central processing unit (CPU) included in the mobile device;

a memory coupled to the CPU and included in the mobile device; and

a computer readable storage device coupled to the CPU;

first program instructions to receive a request from a user to initiate a transmission of data;

second program instructions to determine whether the data includes sensitive information based on a format of the data, and if so,

third program instructions to determine a country in which the mobile device is currently located, determine a privacy policy of the country in which the mobile device is currently located, the sensitive information being information whose disclosure or unauthorized access adversely affects privacy, welfare, or security of a person or a business, and determine whether the privacy policy applies to a type of the data corresponding to the format of the data; and

if so,

fourth program instructions to notify the user of the privacy policy of the country, identify to the user the type of the data for which the privacy policy applies, and query the user whether to transmit the data as requested by the user,

wherein the first, second, third, and fourth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the CPU via the memory.

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

fifth program instructions to determine the mobile device has moved from the country to a second country, and in response, determine a new privacy policy of the second country;

sixth program instructions to receive, subsequent to determining the mobile device has moved to the second country, a request from the user to initiate a second transmission of the data; and

seventh program instructions to determine the new privacy policy applies to the type of the data corresponding to the format of the data, and in response, notify the user of the new privacy policy of the second country, identify to the user the type of the data for which the new privacy policy applies, and query the user whether to transmit the data in the second transmission as requested by the user,

wherein the fifth, sixth, and seventh program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the CPU via the memory.

17. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to periodically determine whether an update exists for the privacy policy of the country in which the mobile device is currently located; and

sixth program instructions to, in response to periodically determining whether the update exists for the privacy policy of the country and prior to determining the privacy policy, determine the update exists and download the update for the privacy policy,

wherein determining the privacy policy by the third program instructions includes updating the privacy policy by the downloaded update, and

wherein the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the CPU via the memory.

18. The computer system of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to determine the format of the data;

sixth program instructions to retrieve a rule of the privacy policy, the rule associating the country and the type of the data with a regular expression data pattern;

seventh program instructions to determine the format of the data matches the regular expression data pattern; and

eighth program instructions to determine, based on the format of the data matching the regular expression data pattern, the privacy policy applies to the type of the data,

wherein the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage device for execution by the CPU via the memory.

19. The computer system of claim 18, wherein the type of the data in the rule includes an attribute specifying a level of sensitivity of the data.

20. The computer system of claim 18, wherein the rule further associates the country and the type of the data with a locale specifying a language used in notifying the user of the privacy policy by the fourth program instructions.