Defense against search engine tracking

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015269395-A1
Application number	US-201514731160-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 4, 2015
Priority date	Jul 17, 2012
Publication date	Sep 24, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

Techniques for enhancing electronic privacy utilize noise to prevent third parties from determining certain information based on search queries. Users submit search queries as part of their normal activities. For a user, the search queries submitted and information regarding search results used to generate additional search queries on different, but related topics. The generated additional search queries are submitted automatically on behalf of the user at a sufficient frequency to prevent high accuracy data analysis on search queries.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for enhancing electronic privacy, comprising:
receiving, by a user computer system, a first query response corresponding to a first query submitted by a user of the user computer system to a search engine; obtaining, by the user computer system, first information that identifies at least one of the user or the first query based at least in part on the first query response; generating, by the user computer system, one or more additional queries based at least in part on the first information; transmitting, by the user computer system, the one or more additional queries to the search engine; receiving, by the user computer system, a second query response from the search engine based at least in part on the one or more additional queries; identifying, by the user computer system, second information from the second query response; generating, by the user computer system, a third query based at least in part on the second information; and storing the third query.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the first information includes, for the first query:
identifying a keyword of the first query; and determining one or more keywords that are semantically similar to the identified keyword, wherein the first information indicates the determined one or more keywords.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein generating the one or more additional queries and the third query is performed without requiring a specific instruction from the user.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting, by the user computer system, the one or more additional queries further comprises:
determining one or more execution times for executing the one or more additional queries and the third query; and executing the one or more additional queries and the third query in accordance with their corresponding execution times.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising storing the one or more execution times corresponding to the one or more additional queries and the third query.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the second information in the second query response comprises identifying at least one of titles, textual descriptions and hyperlinks in the second query response.

7 . A computer system, comprising:
one or more processors; and memory including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to at least:
analyze a first query response, corresponding to a first query that has been submitted by a user, to obtain first information that identifies at least one of the user or the first query;
cause one or more additional queries to be generated based at least in part on the first information;
cause the one or more additional queries to be transmitted to the search engine;
cause a second query response to be received from the search engine based at least in part on the one or more additional queries;
cause second information to be identified in the second query response;
cause information related to the advertisement to be identified;
cause a third query to be generated based at least in part on the identified second information; and
cause the third query to be stored.

8 . The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions to obtain the first information comprise instructions to determine one or more search queries semantically similar to the first query submitted by the user.

9 . The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to obtain the first information further comprise instructions to:
identify a keyword of the first query; and determine one or more keywords that are semantically similar to the identified keyword, wherein the first information indicates the determined one or more keywords.

10 . The computer system of claim 7 , wherein:
the first query response includes search result information from responses to the first query submitted by the user; and the instructions to analyze the first query response to obtain the first information comprise instructions to generate search terms based at least in part on the search result information.

11 . The computer system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions to cause the one or more additional queries to be submitted to the search engine comprise instructions to cause a different computer system to submit the one or more additional queries.

12 . The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the instructions to cause the one or more additional queries to be submitted to the search engine comprise instructions to cause a different computer system to submit at least one additional query of the one or more additional queries to the search engine without user input.

13 . The computer system of claim 7 , further comprising instructions to:
determine one or more execution times for executing the one or more additional queries and the third query; and execute the one or more additional queries and the third query in accordance with their corresponding execution times.

14 . The computer system of claim 7 , further comprising instructions to generate the third query without requiring a specific instruction from the user.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a first computer system, cause the first computer system to enhance electronic privacy, the instructions including:
instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to transmit a first query response corresponding to a first query to a second computer system; instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to receive, from the second computer system, first information that identifies at least one of the user or the first query that was generated based at least in part on the first query response corresponding to the first query; instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to generate, based at least in part on the received first information, one or more additional queries; instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to transmit the one or more additional queries to the search engine computer system; instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to receive a second query response from the search engine computer system based at least in part on the one or more additional queries; instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to identify second information in the second query response; instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to generate third query based at least in part on the second information; and instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the first computer system to store the third query.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the first query response includes information that is based at least in part on search results to search queries submitted by the computer system.

17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions to identify the second information in the second query response comprise instructions to identify at least one of titles, text

Assignees

• Oracle Int Corp

Inventors

• B Far Reza
• Spaulding Kent
• Crane Patrick

Classifications

• G06F21/50 Primary

  Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems · CPC title

• G06F2221/031

  Protect user input by software means · CPC title

• H04L63/0421

  Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer · CPC title

• G06F21/6263 Primary

  during internet communication, e.g. revealing personal data from cookies · CPC title

• H04L29/06639

  Electricity · mapped topic