Privacy server for protecting personally identifiable information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9807061-B2
Application number	US-201615345374-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 7, 2016
Priority date	Oct 19, 2012
Publication date	Oct 31, 2017
Grant date	Oct 31, 2017

Abstract

A privacy server protects private information by substituting a token or an identifier for the private information. The privacy server recognizes that a communication includes private information and intercepts the communication. The privacy server replaces the private information with a random or pseudo-random token or identifier. The privacy server maintains the private information in a local database and associates the private information for a particular person with the token or identifier for that person.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium capable of storing code for performing operations including:
receiving a communication from a first computing device located in a first jurisdiction, wherein:
the first jurisdiction includes geography that is not included in a second jurisdiction,
the second jurisdiction includes other geography that is not included in the first jurisdiction, and
content of the communication includes a full name and identifier of a user associated with the first jurisdiction or the second jurisdiction;

analyzing the communication to determine whether the communication is intended to be transmitted to the second jurisdiction;
determining that the content of the communication includes personally identifiable information associated with laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information; and
when the content of the communication includes the personally identifiable information associated with the laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information:
creating a token to replace the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication, wherein the token is substituted for the full name of the user,
substituting the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication with the token, and
transmitting the communication with the token instead of the personally identifiable information to a second computing device associated with the second jurisdiction.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
storing the token in a local database.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the token comprises a pseudo-random token.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein a class name or course number is not substituted with the token from the communication.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further include:
intercepting the communication.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the token includes a start code and an end code.

7. A method comprising:
receiving a communication from a first computing device located in a first jurisdiction, wherein:
the first jurisdiction includes geography that is not included in a second jurisdiction,
the second jurisdiction includes other geography that is not included in the first jurisdiction, and
content of the communication includes a full name and identifier of a user associated with the first jurisdiction or the second jurisdiction;

analyzing the communication to determine whether the communication is intended to be transmitted to the second jurisdiction;
determining that the content of the communication includes personally identifiable information associated with laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information; and
when the content of the communication includes the personally identifiable information associated with the laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information:
creating a token to replace the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication, wherein the token is substituted for the full name of the user,
substituting the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication with the token, and
transmitting the communication with the token instead of the personally identifiable information to a second computing device associated with the second jurisdiction.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
storing the token in a local database.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the token comprises a pseudo-random token.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein a class name or course number is not substituted with the token from the communication.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
intercepting the communication.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the token includes a start code and an end code.

13. A privacy server comprising:
a processor; and
a memory device including instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
receive a communication from a first computing device located in a first jurisdiction, wherein:
the first jurisdiction includes geography that is not included in a second jurisdiction,
the second jurisdiction includes other geography that is not included in the first jurisdiction, and
content of the communication includes a full name and identifier of a user associated with the first jurisdiction or the second jurisdiction;

analyze the communication to determine whether the communication is intended to be transmitted to the second jurisdiction;
determine that the content of the communication includes personally identifiable information associated with laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information; and
when the content of the communication includes the personally identifiable information associated with the laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information:
create a token to replace the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication, wherein the token is substituted for the full name of the user,
substitute the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication with the token, and
transmit the communication with the token instead of the personally identifiable information to a second computing device associated with the second jurisdiction.

14. The privacy server of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further caused to:
store the token in a local database.

15. The privacy server of claim 13 , wherein the token comprises a pseudo-random token.

16. The privacy server of claim 13 , wherein a class name or course number is not substituted with the token from the communication.

17. The privacy server of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further caused to:
intercept the communication.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium capable of storing code for performing operations including:
receiving a communication from a first computing device located in a first jurisdiction, wherein:
the first jurisdiction includes geography that is not included in a second jurisdiction,
the second jurisdiction includes other geography that is not included in the first jurisdiction, and
content of the communication includes a name and identifier of a user associated with the first jurisdiction or the second jurisdiction;

analyzing the communication to determine whether the communication is intended to be transmitted to the second jurisdiction;
determining that the content of the communication includes personally identifiable information associated with laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information; and
when the content of the communication includes the personally identifiable information associated with the laws that restrict transmissions of the personally identifiable information:
creating a token to replace the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication, wherein the name of the user is substituted with the token from the communication and a class name or course number is not substituted with the token from the communication,
substituting the personally identifiable information in the content of the communication with the token, and
transmitting the communication with the token instead of the personally identifiable information to a second computing device ass

Assignees

• Pearson Education Inc

Inventors

• Hughes Richard Paul
• Chiang Hong-Yu
• Mcfall Gregory Dean
• Spagnola Perry Michael

Classifications

• G06F21/6245 Primary

  Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes · CPC title

• G06F21/6254

  by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification · CPC title

• H04L63/0421 Primary

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

• H04L63/0281

  Proxies · CPC title