Selective regulation of information transmission from mobile applications to third-party privacy compliant target systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10574704-B1
Application number	US-201916267306-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 4, 2019
Priority date	May 22, 2013
Publication date	Feb 25, 2020
Grant date	Feb 25, 2020

Abstract

Selective regulation of information transmission from mobile applications to a third-party privacy compliant target system. A privacy policy is configured for and mapped to each of a multiplicity of mobile application concerns, with each privacy policy comprising rules regulating the transmission of information to a third-party privacy compliant target system. Instrumentation instructions can be integrated with a mobile application and provided to a mobile device. The instrumentation instructions direct the mobile application to submit a privacy policy request comprising a mobile application identifier from the mobile device to a third-party privacy compliance system and enable sending information from the mobile device to the third-party privacy compliant target system, subject to the privacy policy. The privacy policy request is received at the third-party privacy compliance system which selects the privacy policy based on an application identifier and sends the privacy policy to the mobile device for implementation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving instrumentation instructions for integration with a mobile application and operation by a mobile device, wherein the instrumentation instructions comprise instructions for:
responsive to detecting an absence, at the mobile device, of a valid compliance system-configured privacy policy, requesting a privacy policy from a third-party compliance system, the request comprising an operator-configured privacy policy restriction and a respective identifier of a software installation cohort representing a plurality of mobile devices including the mobile device;
receiving the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy from the third-party compliance system, the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprising a rule for regulating transmission of information from the mobile device to a third-party privacy compliant target system wherein the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy is configured according to the identifier of the software installation;
transforming information at the mobile device according to the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy;
selecting transformed information in compliance with the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy; and
sending the selected transformed information to the third-party privacy compliant target system.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
invalidating the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy, after an end of a use session.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed information comprises geolocation information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein transforming information according to the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprises selecting a general location description generated by pre-processing precise geolocation information.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rule for regulating transmission of information from the mobile device to the third-party privacy compliant system comprises a rule prohibiting the transmission of any precise geolocation information.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein transforming information according to the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprises hashing a first unique value to generate a second unique value such that the first unique value is not re-identifiable by the third-party privacy compliant target system from the second unique value.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing processor-executable computer program instructions, that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving instrumentation instructions for integration with a mobile application and operation by a mobile device, wherein the instrumentation instructions comprise instructions for:
responsive to detecting an absence, at the mobile device, of a valid compliance system-configured privacy policy, requesting a privacy policy from a third-party compliance system, the request comprising an operator-configured privacy policy restriction and a respective identifier of a software installation cohort representing a plurality of mobile devices including the mobile device;
receiving the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy from the third-party compliance system, the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprising a rule for regulating transmission of information from the mobile device to a third-party privacy compliant target system wherein the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy is configured according to the identifier of the software installation;
transforming information at the mobile device according to the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy;
selecting transformed information in compliance with the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy; and
sending the selected transformed information to the third-party privacy compliant target system.

8. The medium of claim 7 , the computer program instructions further comprising instructions for:
invalidating the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy, after an end of a use session.

9. The medium of claim 7 , wherein the transformed information comprises geolocation information.

10. The medium of claim 7 , wherein transforming information according to the received valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprises selecting a general location description generated by pre-processing precise geolocation information.

11. The medium of claim 7 , wherein the rule for regulating transmission of information from the mobile device to the third-party privacy compliant system comprises a rule prohibiting the transmission of any precise geolocation information.

12. The medium of claim 7 , wherein transforming information according to the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprises hashing a first unique value to generate a second unique value such that the first unique value is not re-identifiable by the third-party privacy compliant target system from the second unique value.

13. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing processor-executable computer program instructions, that, when executed, cause a computer processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving instrumentation instructions for integration with a mobile application and operation by a mobile device, wherein the instrumentation instructions comprise instructions for:
responsive to detecting an absence, at the mobile device, of a valid compliance system-configured privacy policy, requesting a privacy policy from a third-party compliance system, the request comprising an operator-configured privacy policy restriction and a respective identifier of a software installation cohort representing a plurality of mobile devices including the mobile device;
receiving the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy from the third-party compliance system, the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprising a rule for regulating transmission of information from the mobile device to a third-party privacy compliant target system wherein the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy is configured according to the identifier of the software installation;
transforming information at the mobile device according to the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy;
selecting transformed information in compliance with the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy; and
sending the selected transformed information to the third-party privacy compliant target system.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for:
invalidating the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy, after an end of a use session.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the transformed information comprises geolocation information.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein transforming information according to the received valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprises selecting a general location description generated by pre-processing precise geolocation information.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the rule for regulating transmission of information from the mobile device to the third-party privacy compliant system comprises a rule prohibiting the transmission of any precise geolocation information.

18. The system of claim 13 , wherein transforming information according to the valid compliance system-configured privacy policy comprises hashing a first unique val

Assignees

• Quantcast Corp

Inventors

• Flowerday Crispin Edward Harold
• Kamprath Michael F
• Sareshwala Faraaz Aejaz
• Vogel Fernandez De Castro Daniel

Classifications

• H04W4/60

  Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits · CPC title

• G06F21/6272

  by registering files or documents with a third party · CPC title

• G06F21/629

  to features or functions of an application · CPC title

• G06F21/62

  Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules · CPC title

• H04W12/02

  Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII] · CPC title